Royal Challengers [RCB] suffered yet another disappointing defeat in the Indian Premier League. However, this time the loss came with an unwanted record. The Challengers conceded 287 runs in 20 overs, which is the most conceded by any team in the IPL. This record was previously held by Mumbai Indians, who conceded 277 runs earlier in the tournament.
Although the common denominator in both the games has been Sunrisers Hyderabad, RCB’s sub-par bowling did not help the team. Four bowlers bowled their quota of four overs and all of them went for over 50 runs. Despite their disastrous bowling performance, RCB was able to give their fans something to be happy about with their batting. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis got the Challengers off to a quickfire start. Although they lost their way in the middle, veteran Dinesh Karthik put on a show as he scored 83 runs in 35 balls to reduce the margin of loss to 25 runs.
RCB’s bowling department lacks firepower
The defeat against SRH was one of many occasions where RCB‘s bowling department let them down. Since the start of this season, the team have failed to restrict opponents below 175 runs. Their highest wicket-taker has been Yash Dayal who has taken 5 wickets, but his economy rate has been 9.09. Given that bowling at Chinaswammy is not an easy job, RCB has shown no signs of improvement since the start of the season.
Mohammed Siraj has been their best bowler in recent years, but even he has had a terrible IPL season so far. The Indian international has only grabbed four wickets, but his economy rate has been 10.41 which has contributed to RCB having the worst economy rates this season. The team is bowling with no strategy and this has led to them languishing at the bottom of the standings.
RCB management needs to be held accountable
Although they have not won the IPL trophy, RCB have some of the best fans in the tournament. They have a dynamic player like Virat Kohli, but aside from him, there are not a lot of players that they can rely on. This season the management went all in and brought Alzarri Joseph in the auction for a whopping 11.5 crores. They also traded for Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who cost them 17.5 crores. Both of these big-money moves haven’t moved the needle as the franchise continues to struggle on the bowling front.
The Challengers also lack a quality spinner after letting go of Wanindu Hasaranga. The Sri Lankan had a terrific 2021-22 season, where he picked 26 wickets. The franchise released him but failed to rope in another spinner and this has led to a big void in their bowling lineup.
RCB has been a home to some of the best players in the IPL. Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Yuzvinder Chahal, Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid are some of the many big names that have played for the franchise. Despite having a lot of firepower, the management has always fallen short in finding the right balance.
Even with Virat Kohli leading the charts in the Orange Cap race, RCB are nowhere close to being a good team. The management certainly needs to do a lot of introspection after this season as their hopes for a Top 4 finish seem impossible with the current roster.
