Bangalore Face Royal Challenge to Stay Alive in IPL 8
The Royal Challengers find themselves languishing at the bottom of the IPL points table. With 10 league matches to play, the Royal Challengers have a royal challenge on their hands if they want to keep their dreams of making the IPL play-offs alive.
Think Royal Challengers Bangalore and you will immediately think of some of the biggest names in world cricket. From Virat Kohli to Chris Gayle. From AB de Villiers to Darren Sammy and now Mitchell Starc. There's no dearth of big names, but the team is struggling to come together as a unit. In 4 matches so far, Bangalore have won just 1 and find themselves languishing at the bottom of the points table. With 10 league matches to play, the Royal Challengers have a royal challenge on their hands if they want to keep their dreams of making the IPL play-offs alive. (Full Indian Premier League Coverage)
Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, who was confident of a strong start before the tournament began, was brutally honest about his team's performances after their 27 run loss to Chennai on Wednesday. Kohli said, "It's disappointing. There's not much I can say at this point of time. We have disappointed ourselves more than anyone else." (Fans Shocked After RCB Drop Gayle)
Bangalore began their 2015 IPL campaign on a high, with a 3 wicket win versus the Kolkata Knight Riders. That however was thanks to a Chris Gayle masterclass. Bangalore had been reduced to 119/5, chasing 178 to win. Gayle stayed till the 19th over, smashing 96 off 56 balls. Since then, Bangalore have lost 3 matches on the trot (to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai.) All 3 matches were home games for the Royal Challengers.
In a bold move on Wednesday, RCB dropped Chris Gayle for the clash versus the Chennai Super Kings. The Man of the Tournament of the 2015 World Cup, Mitchell Starc was available and Gayle had to make way for the Aussie. That might just be an indication that the team is now not thinking in terms of stars, but focusing instead on the best XI that can win them matches.
Kohli's analysis of what's ailing RCB perhaps hit the nail on the head. Kohli admitted, "We haven't really been able to play as a group till now. We have to sit and figure out what's going wrong, speak to the guys a bit about their mindset and we have to get it right quickly. Four games into the tournament, we can't afford to lose too many from here on."
© BCCI
The big question is - are Bangalore getting their playing XI composition right? Case in point is Dinesh Karthik, who was bought for a whopping Rs 10.5 Crore at the last auction, and is averaging 10.75 with the bat.
NDTV IPL expert and former Australian cricketer Dean Jones was scathing in his criticism of Karthik. Jones said, "He (Karthik) got Rs 10 Crore and he has scores of 18, 9, 6 and 10. I want your job Dinesh. Come and sit in here and I will go and play for 10 crore. I promise you on my life that I will give you better scores than what you are giving right now. It's not good enough son."
The Royal Challengers just haven't gotten off the blocks yet. No Bangalore batsman features in the top 10 run-getters' list so far. In the bowlers' list, young Yuzvendra Chahal is the only one who features in the top 10, with 8 wickets in 4 games.
The silver lining for Bangalore perhaps is the fact that their captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli has struck form. His 42 ball 51 vs Chennai perhaps signalled the return of the prolific batsman that his team desperately needs.
The IPL playoffs are now just a few weeks away and time is running out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Big stars or not, unless the team gets it right soon, their royal challenge for the IPL title will fizzle away with a mere whimper.