It is that time of the year for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fans. The disappointment is so intense that one can almost feel sad on behalf of the loyal Bangalore supporters who keep turning up in the stands, and in front of screens, year after year. 16 years and counting, and 'Ee Sala Cup Namde' is yet to manifest itself.
You look at RCB's problems over the years, and a lot hasn't really changed. Then there was Chris Gayle, now there is Faf du Plessis. Then, there was AB de Villiers, now there is Glen Maxwell. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, has remained a constant and despite all of these players churning out runs by the dozen, the bowlers have continued to let the franchise down, keeping the trophy cabinet bare.
Top Heavy Batting
Despite RCB succeeding in qualifying for the playoffs last year, with eight victories from 14 matches, it wasn't their top order bludgeoning attacks consistently, but it was the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed in the lower middle order who won the team multiple matches.
This year, for all the form that the RCB top order has shown, the team is without a second line of defence. If one of their Big Three in Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli or Glen Maxwell fired, well and good. If not, there were no backup troops on the way to save the day.
To their credit, RCB's Big Three did their best, scoring over 70% of the team's runs this season. Openers Kohli and du Plessis added a total of 939 runs in partnership – the joint most by a pair in the IPL, equalling Kohli's stand with AB de Villiers in 2016. The two openers had as many as eight half-century partnerships – another IPL record.
It is rare for two batters of a team to finish among the top three run-scorers at the end of the league stage, and for the franchise to still fall short of the playoff qualification.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis ended up head and shoulders above his peers, with 730 runs from 14 games and a strike rate of 153. He reached fifty on eight occasions this season, and one really has to feel for the 38-year-old who has been playing some of his best T20 cricket post 35.
After a decent start, Virat Kohli had a slight dip in the middle but more than made up for it in his last two matches, going back to back. Kohli scored an aggregate of 639 runs from 14 games at over 50 and a strike rate of almost 140, with two centuries and six half-centuries.
In the process, he became the man with most tons in the IPL (7), getting past Chris Gayle (6). Kohli now also has 8 T20 hundreds overall, only behind Chris Gayle (22) and Babar Azam (9) in world cricket.
Although Glen Maxwell did not particularly set the stage on fire, he had a decent season as well, producing 400 runs at 33 and, more importantly, at a strike rate of over 180, with five half-centuries.
Not Enough Support From The Rest
It was the rest of the RCB batting which came a cropper. Rajat Patidar's heel injury cost RCB big time as their best middle order contribution this season came from Dinesh Karthik who had a forgettable year with just 140 runs at 11.67.
Perhaps, it was just one of those years when nothing clicked for the veteran Indian wicketkeeper. But at 37, going on 38 shortly, he is clearly closer to the end of his career than the start and one can't help but wonder whether we have seen the last of DK in the IPL.
Among middle order batters i.e. from No. 4 to No. 7, Rinku Singh scored the most in the group stage with 474 runs at a strike rate of almost 150, followed by Heinrich Klaasen and Marcus Stoinis. No RCB batter could produce even 300 runs while batting in the middle order and none of them features among the top 10 middle order batters.
Clearly, a big chunk of the blame for RCB's middling show in IPL 2023 has to be shouldered by the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahmed and Suyash Prabhudessai who failed to get going.
Injury Concerns
Josh Hazelwood's injury at the beginning of the season was a major setback for RCB as they were looking at the Australian pacer as their leading quick alongside Mohammed Siraj.
Reece Topley, who shone bright in RCB's opening fixture against Mumbai Indians also injured his shoulder shortly thereafter. His compatriot David Willey met the same fate. As a result, Bangalore were left with a bowling lineup comprising names like Himanshu Sharma and Vijaykumar Vyshak who are untested commodities at this level.
When you arrive in a virtual knockout with such obvious chinks, strong oppositions almost certainly exploit your weakness and that is exactly what Shubman Gill did en route to his successive IPL ton, crushing RCB's playoff dream.
No Contribution From Spinners
Wanindu Hasaranga's injury was certainly a contributing factor, but overall, the RCB spinners failed to make a mark in a competition where the likes of Rashid Khan and Piyush Chawla have ruled the roost. What RCB fans wouldn't give to have Yuzvendra Chahal back in the XI?
Karn Sharma started strong but fell by the wayside as the competition advanced, finishing with 10 wickets from seven matches at a disappointing economy rate of 10.73. Hasaranga took nine wickets from eight games but could not play a part towards the business end of the tournament – a punch in the gut for RCB.
And so, the battle-hardened and grizzled RCB fans have another year to endure before they can hop back on the Ee Sala Cup Namde cavalcade.
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