OPINION
Follow UsTen games into the season, Royal Challengers Bangalore find themselves at fifth. But there is a catch, their net run-rate reads -0.558 and their points: only 10. RCB can still make it to the playoffs but it would require more than the ordinary for it to happen. That’s RCB, that’s really how the IPL season, year after year goes for the franchise.
They start off well, they peak at the wrong time and one-two disasters later, find themselves and their fans on the calculator, crunching up numbers. And even the sacrosanct calculator will tell you it isn’t numbers anymore. RCB have got it wrong but they took a punt, which was borderline inconclusive.
A top-order that consists of Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. A monotonous middle-order consisting of too many right-handers with the exception of Shahbaz Ahmed. A lower-order that has hardly been used. A pace-bowling unit that literally depends on the pair of Harshal Patel and Josh Hazlewood. RCB have a squad but at the same time, they have multiple issues that are insolvable.
That’s what the tournament showed. The loss against Gujarat Titans exposed them in every single department. It was a clash between a team and a playing XI full of superstars. Prior to this clash, the lack of intent at the top of the order was always a questionable one for RCB.
Did that change?
RCB are the only franchise this season, which has failed to cross the 50-run mark in the powerplay. For the tenth time in a row, they managed to underplay themselves, scoring just 43 in a phase where there wasn’t too much for the pacers. When RCB won the bid at INR 7 crore for South Africa, Faf, they were happy.
The franchise was expecting the South African to mirror his IPL 2021 form, where he scored 297 runs in the first six overs, at a strike-rate of well over 136.2 but therein, he had the cushion of a young Ruturaj Gaikwad, in his peak form. If not for that, there were the likes of Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu and a long list of players all strong against spin.
But RCB’s combination was such that, Faf couldn’t afford to have bad days, Kohli couldn’t afford to slow down his pace, Glenn Maxwell had to accelerate from the first ball. This season in the powerplay, Faf has scored 104 runs, at an average of 20.8 but only at a strike-rate of 85.3.
“Cricket is a massive game of confidence and it'll be huge. To get a solid fifty, it's big for him and for us, something that we can take forward. You will need someone in the top-4 to go out and make those 70s and 80s, scores around 30s and 40s will not help win matches,” said Faf after the clash against Gujarat.
Amongst the top ten worst batters in the powerplay are Faf, Rawat and Kohli. The trio strike at 85.3, 92.8 and 110.9 respectively. Barring Kohli, the BPB (Balls Per Boundary), read 8.1 and 7.6. For the uninitiated, the average BPB in this year’s tournament (for openers with min 8 games), is 6.1, showing how the lack of attack at the top of the order continues to haunt him.
The overreliance on Dinesh Karthik
Thus far this season, Dinesh Karthik has been more than reliable for the franchise. He is 36 but the way he has been batting this season, it has been nothing short of sublime. In over (11-20), the right-hander has scored 219 runs, averaging 72.67 with the bat, at a strike-rate of 200. Furthermore, the right-hander has ensured that the void AB de Villers has left has been filled, even though only partially.
But the issue lies here, the overreliance on the 36-year-old has put the franchise in a tough spot. In the middle-overs (7-15), RCB have the third-worst batting numbers in the competition, with a strike-rate of 135, scoring a boundary every 6.8 deliveries, losing 25 wickets, which again is the third-most in the tournament.
The form of Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj
After RCB dropped Akash Deep from the playing XI, the onus of wicket-taking was on the shoulders of Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj. While Siraj was the one to pick wickets in the powerplay, Harshal’s bowling was going to be key for the franchise during the middle and death-overs. RCB have the best bowling unit in the middle-overs, thanks to Harshal’s incredible bowling.
In the powerplay, RCB had just picked up 11 wickets, the second-lowest in the tournament despite the presence of Josh Hazlewood. The failure to pick wickets ultimately cost them through the season. To top it, RCB have a terrible record at the death, where they concede runs at 11.7 RPO, with just 11 wickets.
At the death, RCB have used five bowlers – Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal, Hazlewood, Siraj and Akash Deep. Barring Hasaranga and Harshal, all the other RCB bowlers have just picked up just five wickets, conceding runs at 11.5, 13.6 and 20.1 RPO, figures which ultimately have been disastrous for them.
RCB might still qualify but the fact that there are multiple gaps suggest how they would be more than lucky, if they did.
