RCB were adamant to get a good bowling attack, it was a huge first step in winning IPL: Andy Flower
Ahmedabad (PTI): Acquiring a lethal bowling attack in the mega auction and picking players with experience were "huge first steps" in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's march to their maiden IPL title, said head coach Andy Flower.
RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in the final here on Tuesday to end their long wait in the 18th edition of the tournament, and Flower said it all began with the franchise making the right moves in the auction last year.
"The auction is a huge first step that you've got to try and get as right as possible and (as a) part of (team director) Mo's (Mo Bobat) philosophy right up front, was to distribute the value a little more equitably rather than spending too much on big-name batsmen who are, of course, very fine players," Flower told the media after RCB's title win.
"The importance of a good bowling attack was acknowledged absolutely adamantly right at the start before the auction and we worked towards that."
The win also helped batting great Virat Kohli fulfil his dream of winning an IPL title.
"I know after the first day of the auction, we were copping a little bit of flak. People thought that we were investing our money rather than spending it. But it meant that there was some really good value to be had on the second day," the former Zimbabwe captain said.
Flower counted the players RCB added to their roster during the auction in November at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
"We had the money to then spend on that value. We got guys like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Krunal (Pandya), Tim David, Romario Shepherd on that second day so that was really important," he said.
"Suyash Sharma has done really well for us — our little leg spinner. I thought he has handled himself really well through the season.
"Krunal is a big match player and a great competitor and that spell today (Tuesday) was the major difference between the teams," said Flower of Pandya, who returned match-winning figures of 4-0-17-2.
Flower said having players with experience of competing in big matches also came in handy for RCB.
"We talked about that yesterday when we were in our planning meetings and earlier this evening in the huddle before the game started. We had a good group of experienced cricketers in our team," he said.
"Guys like, obviously, Virat (Kohli), (Josh) Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, a big part of their recruitment was their experience. Hazlewood has played in World Cup finals before. He has played in big matches and big tournaments, as has Virat.
"Krunal, this is his fourth IPL win so it was crucial recruiting them in the first place. The auction is a huge step in the right direction if you can get it right," Flower added.
He said the total of 190/9 wasn't a huge score but they trusted their bowling attack to deliver on the night.
"Yes, 190 didn't seem like a huge score at this ground. As you know, like an average winning score this season is 220 or something," he said.
"I wouldn't say it was below par, because in a final to go and score 190, you've still got to play really well. We have got a good bowling attack and we trusted that the bowlers would come to the party in that second innings," he said.
Flower acknowledged Dinesh Karthik's role as team mentor cum batting coach.
"Indian insight and knowledge in our coaching staff has been really important for this campaign this year. DK, particularly, as a mentor and a batting specialist, he's been brilliant," Flower said.
"It's quite a transition to make from playing to coaching, and he has done it amazingly well, and it's very obvious that he has had an impact, certainly on the batting group," he said.
Flower said while the pitch had a little bit of moisture, it made batting a bit difficult for the RCB batters.
"There was a little bit of moisture in the pitch initially and it held up a little, so that made batting a little bit tricky for us in the first innings. We would have bowled first if we had won the toss," he said.
"It might have felt a little slow to a lot of people. But there were little cameos along the way from a lot of our batting group. Good, aggressive little cameos that took us to 190."
"(A score of) 190 is a big chase when the pressure of winning the cup is on. So, even though we lost the toss, we handled ourselves really well," Flower added.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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