BENGALURU: At the start of each Indian Premier League season, one question gains prominence - will Royal Challengers Bangalore win their maiden title? The answer at the end of the season has been the same for the last 13 years - NO.
Why? There are those who have pointed fingers at the leadership of Virat Kohli, who was appointed captain in 2013. From time to time, his tactics have been questioned. When it comes to personnel, he has had some top-class players under him, including AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson and others, but things have never fallen in place for the team when it has mattered.
After Kohli, who has been with the franchise from the first edition of the league, took over, Bangalore's best showing has been their runners-up finish in 2016. In the last four editions, though they reached the playoffs last season, they were knocked out from the league stage in three straight seasons, 2017 to 2019. Current head coach Simon Katich, who joined the team last season, explained how Kohli is under too much pressure with just him and de Villers in focus.
"He has to be accountable for that (not winning the title)...," Katich told the Cricket, Et Cetera podcast. "We are trying to make sure that the focus is not just on him and ABD, which has been the case for years in RCB. It has always been about them. You cannot win the tournament with just two guys, you need a collective group."
"I think, from his perspective, it is a lot about unloading him of all that pressure, just allowing him to go out there and play. Surrounding him with other guys, who have got good cricket brains, can help him out when there is pressure. Ultimately, as a captain, you need guys to back you up and help you out there. We got onto the good track last year, but there is some more work to be done."
The Australian might have voiced an honest opinion about Kohli's captaincy, but the question remains whether they have brought in the right personnel to support the duo this season. Bangalore paid big bucks for Glenn Maxwell, who has not impressed in the IPL for a couple of seasons now, and Kyle Jamieson, who is yet to make his IPL debut and lacks experience.
It is understood they added Maxwell as he rolls his arm over and can be the sixth bowling option too, but will he be able to relieve the pressure from Kohli and de Villiers? One has to note that Aaron Finch was brought into the squad for the same reason last season, but he failed and was even released ahead of the auction. When such players fail, there is a greater need for Kohli to shoulder added responsibility.
It was the case last season, where Kohli had to take on more responsibility. He might have scored 466 runs in 15 matches, but his strike rate was 121, the lowest in his IPL career after he became the captain. He was not at his impressive best in the middle stages of the game. Katich hopes to make a few changes in the team to ensure Kohli is his usual dominating self come this season.
"To be fair, Virat had a good IPL in terms of runs made, just that he did not dominate games as much, because he did not trust the middle to lower order as much after AB de Villiers. We will rectify that. He is too good a player not to score at a strike rate of more than 140. Just little tweaks here and there with the balance of the team will hopefully allow him to be dominant again this season," said Katich.
The coach, who has also been part of Kolkata Knight Riders in the past, also stressed on how Bangalore needs to develop a winning mentality for the new season.
"Having come in with a fresh set of guys last season, and knowing how as an opposition coach when I was at KKR, how we try and expose RCB. It certainly started to make me realise that there were areas where they have to work. There were times where we got into a position of winning last season, you can sense that the players, who were there for some years at the franchise, they had not won those close games," Katich said.