Will Jacks achieves lift-off at No 3 as RCB attempt to soar up standings

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Will Jacks has been adapting on the go in his IPL journey, trying to solidify his place in the star-studded Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) top order. Jacks has played 97 T20 innings since the start of 2022, and has not opened the batting in only 13 of those innings. Five of them have come in this IPL where, with Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli set at the top, he's had to come in at No. 3.

It is not a position he's enjoyed much success in T20s. Before the IPL, he had batted 14 times at No. 3, averaging just 16.92 with a highest score of 40. This included six games for England where he'd averaged only 12.16. But, with the opening spots taken at RCB, he had to quickly reset.

Brought into the team for RCB's sixth game of the season, he had two lukewarm starts, scoring 8 and 7, but he soon found his bearings with a fifty and then a smashing century in RCB's last game against Gujarat Titans. Jacks admitted that his new role at No. 3 hasn't been easy but something that he has "been getting better at".

"It is definitely something that I am adapting to," Jacks said. "I started doing it in November in the Caribbean for England, so I have probably done it in ten or a few more times. It is different. The hardest thing I found is coming in outside the powerplay. Normally when you face the first ball, you get a few to look at, and you can get your easy boundaries away and get yourself rolling whereas outside the powerplay, you have to play yourself in and it is harder to be 17 or18 off ten balls.

"I think it is more of a mental thing. It is what can I do best to help the team's chances from this position. It is something that I think I have been getting better at."

This is Jacks' first experience at the IPL. He was picked up by RCB during last year's auction but missed the season due to injury. He has been in exceptional T20 form this year but says he knew he might not get a game initially with RCB having their four overseas slots set. Now that he is in, he wants to make up for lost time.

"Early on, I knew it was going to be tough for me to play," he said. "Obviously, with the overseas contingent we have and the way the team is set up, I understood I wasn't going to play in the first game. So from there, it is just about making sure if you are required, you are ready, because it is 14 games, two months, it is a long time so you never know when you are going to be needed. Whether that be results, injury, or illness, there is all kinds of reasons.

"I was just trying to stay fit and stay ready, do my preparation in the nets. So when it happened, I was ready. It took me a few games, but I have got into the competition."

RCB aren't in the prettiest of positions at this stage. They have four games left and need to win each of them and have a few other results going their way. They are coming into this game against GT off two wins on the bounce, but will there be extra pressure considering each game is a must-win? Jacks doesn't think so.

"What we have spoken about as a batting unit, is playing with freedom. At the beginning of the competition, we were probably behind the other teams in terms of run rate and not getting the results we desired," he said. "We spoke long and hard about how to get to those 200-plus scores that we have seen across the competition. And we have been doing that well, taking risks at the right time and putting bowlers under pressure. I wouldn't say it adds more pressure. We just know what we have to do and we are keeping it simple and that's what has been working for us recently.

"We are moving along in the right direction. It is a shame it didn't happen a few games earlier but there is still a chance for us. We have four games left. We are going to try and give our best, one by one."

Another thing that RCB might want to fix is their home record. They have played five games at the Chinnasawamy this season and lost four. Jacks, however, does not want to focus on the negatives at this stage and is hopeful of RCB finishing the tournament on a high.

"We don't really want to focus on a losing record here," he said. "We know it is a hard ground to have home advantage because of the playing conditions. The wickets are good, the boundaries are small, and if a batter gets on a roll as an opposition, it could be hard to stop. When teams have come here, they have had that, but unfortunately we haven't had that in our own team. But now the batters are in form, we are on a high and I'd like to think going into tomorrow and the home games to follow, we can finish strongly."

It helps that RCB play Titans again, the team they walloped in their last game chasing down a 201 target in 16 overs, and that's where Jacks thinks the home side has the advantage. "We are in a good position. We have played Gujarat just six days ago. Whatever the conditions are, whatever the pitch maybe, we have got confidence, we know we can beat them. It should be a good contest but we know what we have to do and we'll go from there."