CHENNAI: Eleven seasons have gone by, with Virat Kohli leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last six. But despite making the finals thrice, they still have no title to their name. A side that has always looked strong on paper, RCB have not lived up to expectations.
With the 12th edition of IPL commencing on Saturday — when they meet Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium — it again comes down to question of whether Kohli’s men can pull off something spectacular.
RCB are known to add superstars to their ranks season after season, despite that not yielding great results. They finished eighth and sixth the last two times, and their over-reliance on Kohli and AB de Villiers is a well-known story.
On the eve of the opener, the skipper reflected on the importance of being consistent to reach the playoffs, if not win the title. “We want to be consistent, scratch our way to wins if need be, and capitalise when the opportunity comes. The reason why we have not won in the past is that we haven’t done that for a consistent period of time.”
“We have periods where we have done well. But we haven’t had a consistent run, apart from in 2011.”
This time, RCB have concentrated on fixing a big weak link: middle-order. They’ve roped in Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis and Shivam Dube; all known for their big-hitting. But with two debutants in Hetmyer and Dube, only time will tell as to how this fix works.
Batting firepower or not, it is RCB’s bowling — spearheaded by Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal — that needs to step up. Already dented by an injury to Nathan Coulter-Nile, the lack of a death-over specialist compounded their woes in 2018. Though Umesh picked up 20 wickets, it was only during the powerplay (14 in that period) when he inflicted most damage, with Kohli mostly using him up inside 13 overs. With Coulter-Nile only joining the side in April, it has to be seen if Tim Southee can do the job.
Concerns in both departments notwithstanding, Kohli said decision-making will be key to staying alive. “It boils down to how much composure you have in crunch situations. All teams that have won the IPL have defended 150 or chased big totals because a couple of guys standing up.”
“Poor decision-making during crunch situations is what we want to correct this season. It doesn’t matter how we win, or who we are playing. It is about keeping up an attitude where we don’t give up at any stage and find ways to win.”
In contrast to last season, there is no campaign with the Kannada chant “Eh saala cup namde” (This time the cup is ours); an initiative that ended up backfiring. Far from great expectations, there is a legitimate threat of history repeating itself for RCB this year. But Kohli “doesn’t care” if he was judged for that, as he eyes a fresh start.
“We’ve played six semifinals means that we have always been in contention. If we make better decisions, we can go further.”