BENGALURU: Despite all talks of a balanced side, improved middle-order and new big-hitters in the 12th IPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore have been incredibly poor. Three matches and three losses is not acceptable. One cannot call it a weak team when stalwarts AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli are in their ranks, but batting as a unit remains a concern. So does bowling.
Bangalore have been one unit, where individuals have failed, leading to overall disappointment. They are required to bring forth their A game in both bowling and batting when they face Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday. The Royals are also without a point after three games.
It would not be right to judge Bangalore’s bowlers in the opening game against Chennai Super Kings, where they had only 70 to defend. But their bowling in the last two games has also not been satisfactory.
Against Mumbai, they conceded 40 in the last three overs, which turned out to be significant in a six-run loss. Hopes of a better show in the next match were blown away by the Hyderabad openers, as Bangalore ended up conceding 231 runs. All the bowlers had a night to forget. Mohammed Siraj’s economy of 9.50 was the best for the team.
“I think we can take a lot of learnings from the (Hyderabad) game. It has to get better from the next game. In the last couple of games, we probably haven’t executed well with the ball and that has hurt us at the end of the innings. Hyderabad had a strong beginning and probably we did not stick to our plans,” said Colin De Grandhomme after Sunday’s 118-run loss.
One cannot blame the bowlers alone. Opening the batting has been a problem as well, with three different batsmen walking out alongside Parthiv Patel. Totals of 70 and 113 clearly shows that they have a tendency to fall like a pack of cards when the big two don’t click. Out of the 181 they made against Mumbai, De Villiers and Kohli combined to get 116. The match against Royals gives Bangalore a chance to address these shortcomings.
“We just need our players to put a better challenge up front.....11 games to go. The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring forth our A game. If we go through the motions, we need to do the regular basic stuff, and get results our way and start winning. The next game should be that game for us,” said Kohli. Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has joined the team in Jaipur after the One-day International series against Pakistan in UAE. Nathan Coulter-Nile is expected to join the team on April 9.