Of all the pre-hype of the Royal Challengers Bangalore going on a spending spree and mounting a title challenge, was all put to rest when Virat Kohli’s men were defeated by the Kolkata Knight Riders…
Of all the pre-hype of the Royal Challengers Bangalore going on a spending spree and mounting a title challenge, was all put to rest when Virat Kohli’s men were defeated comprehensively by the Kolkata Knight Riders in a league encounter. The meaning of this result thus ends the top-four hopes for the RCB and now, in their seventh season, remain trophyless (a bit Arsenal jargon). Owner Vijay Mallya had spent 14.5 crores on India’s T20 specialist, Yuvraj Singh, who by far had an average tourney. So what led to the downfall for these Men in Red? We find the reasons for their sudden fall to the pits:
Yuvraj Singh is busy counting the cash
In Yuvi, RCB hired one of T20’s most destructible batsman in the world today. When Vijay Mallya splashed crores of rupees on the southpaw, the eyebrows were raised on Yuvraj, who was awful in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. His dreadful form continued in the IPL and apart from few explosive innings, Yuvi has failed to click for Mallya and his RCB.
Virat Kohli’s awful captaincy
Former RCB coach, Ray Jennings had praised Virat Kohli for his aura and character on and off-the field. The Delhi-born even shone in India colours as a worthy skipper but when the former donned the RCB colours, it all faded. His batting was woeful and in terms of captaincy, Virat looked out of depth and out of ideas.
Chris Gayle’s ‘No-show’
Whenever Mr. Chris Gayle takes the field, the crowd erupts, the bowlers get wet palms and the umpires take position to raise both their hands. But alas, this season wasn’t as Gayle disappointed with the bat and also missed the initial stages through injury. Here’s hoping that Chris brings on the show in the next season!
Bowling comes a cropper
Mallya may not be showing the notes to his Kingfisher employees as the likes of Mitchell Starc benefitted from it as the owners invested highly on the Aussie pacer. But the left-armer was not at his peak in the tournament as he only managed to pocket 14 wickets in the 13 games played.
AB de Villiers cannot handle the pressure
When the top order failed to click, the load of taking the side through was pushed on the shoulders of South African batsman, AB de Villiers. The Protean is one of the most recognized batsman in the international T20 cricket but there were too many instances where Bangalore had to rely too much on him.
Vijay Mallya should learn from other owners
In order to win their first major trophy, Vijay Mallya, like every year; spends loads of cash on talented stars during the IPL auction window. As the IPL entered its seventh season, another year without top honours has left Mallya and co. thinking on various issues that are plaguing the side. The owner should take a leaf out of the other fellow owners in the league and must re-think the buying strategy in the forthcoming Indian Premier Leagues. Till then, adios!
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be playing for ‘pride’ in the remaining games and with the Bangladesh tour on the horizon, the likes of Parthiv Patel, Varun Aaron, Yuvvendra Chahal and Vijay Zol should up their game if they are to be in the Indian colours reckoning.
