April 24 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Royal Challengers Bengaluru are on the verge of getting knocked out of the race for the playoffs in the IPL 2024. The franchise changed its name ahead of the season, but it certainly didn’t change the fortunes as they might have to wait for another season to add something to their empty trophy cabinet. Having star players like Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green and Mohammed Siraj, RCB entered the tournament as one of the title contenders, but at the halfway stage, their chances to qualify for Playoffs hang by a thread.
The batting unit has been over-relied on Virat Kohli at the top and Dinesh Karthik in the finisher’s role to get the job done as Faf du Plessis lacked consistency this season. Meanwhile, the Aussie all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green have turned out to be major disappointments with the bat. With every passing match, their performances have only gone downhill.
The bowling department is once again a big letdown for RCB, as even after 17 years in IPL, they have failed to assemble a potent bowling attack. They spent big money on Alzarri Joseph – INR 11.5 crore – in the mini-auction, and he claimed just 1 wicket in three matches at an economy rate of 11.90. Meanwhile, the other two overseas pacers, Reece Topley and Lockie Ferguson, also turned out to be big disappointments. Mohammed Siraj – the leader of the attack – himself has leaked runs at an economy rate of 10.35 and claimed just 5 wickets in seven matches.
The collective failure has put RCB in a stage where they are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just 1 win in 8 matches. Even if they win all of their matches from here, it won’t guarantee them a spot in playoffs and have to rely on the other teams’ results.
2021 T20 World Cup-winning captain and former RCB star Aaron Finch pointed out that the problem began for Faf and Co. at the auction ceremony itself, where they didn’t sign a world-class spinner who could get the job done on the Indian pitches.
“I think there have been a couple of reasons, hasn’t gone well, and I think it does start off with the auction table when you put so much emphasis on your batting group and doesn’t leave a huge amount of room for your bowling. The lack of world-class spinner I guess it’s something and proven in the game against KKR, Sunil Narine is a world-class operator and he’s somebody who gets the job done day in day out. It’s just that lack of a spinner there to be relied on consistently,” Aaron Finch replied to Hindustan Times’ query on Star Sports Press Room.
The former Australia captain further lambasted RCB for not utilising Cameron Green despite spending big money on him with a trade move ahead of the auction. Finch asserted that the ideal position to get the better of Green is at the top of the order but RCB have played him in the middle-order.
“I think they have got some issues with playing players out of position at times, I mean Cameron Green to trade for him for such a big price, for such a big percentage of a salary cap, to then bat him in the middle-order where is not as comfortable as batting at the top is is a real strange move. You’re asking a guy to do a job which he is not comfortable with from the start so you’re not setting him up for the ultimate success in my opinion,” Finch added.
Meanwhile, Finch also admitted that the underwhelming form of Glenn Maxwell also hurting RCB’s chances as several match-winners have failed to make an impact for them
“And then obviously Maxi (Maxwell) hasn’t gone going either which hurts. When you’re looking at match-winners and pure impact on the match and Maxi hasn’t quite done that this tournament,” he concluded.
Faf and Co. will next lock horns against a formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The last time when they two teams faced each other this season the ball was in the air for the majority of the time as SRH posted the record total of 287/3 an in reply RCB fought back hard but were left 25 runs short and scored 262/7.
