BENGALURU: How the mighty have fallen. A team that prided itself on its batting prowess being unable to chase down a pretty small score by T20 standards is disappointing to see.
The humiliating defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders and being at the bottom of the table after five losses in seven matches is obviously not a position Royal Challengers Bangalore would like to be in.
There is still a chance with seven matches remaining. And when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Tuesday, it has to be a win if RCB want a shot at the title.
For RCB to make the knockouts, their batting has to fire. It has been disappointing till now and reached a new low on Sunday. Virat Kohli, who believes in giving a hundred percent each time, was absolutely unhappy with the batting show. “It was our worst batting performance,” he was quoted as saying after the match.
“We had a good first half but could not capitalise on it and chase a small total down. It was reckless batting and this is just not acceptable.”
However, SRH coach Tom Moody is not taking confidence in RCB’s batting failures. “There is no doubt that they have some destructive players. We know that they are capable players. We will be fools to think there will be a Kolkata repeat. That is gone,” said Moody.
SRH had defeated RCB in the opening match of 2017 IPL and also in last year’s final. “It is always nice to be one up on our opponents. At the end, it is what happens on that particular day. We have got some things to think about. We have to get our combination right for the match. We want to be on cue with every part of the game against what is a dangerous side,” Moody added.
While RCB’s bowling has been better than their batting, they still have to think about plans to counter the likes of captain David Warner and Yuvraj Singh.
SRH bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan is confident despite a few losses.
“We have won 60 per cent of our matches. Unfortunately, we have lost away games and won home games easily. But then, the away games were very close and could have gone either way. We have a balanced side that is capable of getting into the playoffs,” he said.
As far as RCB are concerned, they have no option but to start winning.
vivekphadnis@newindianexpress.com