Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], May 10 : Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) got to go back to the drawing board, do some repair works in order to strengthen their bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL) title defence, which has witnessed a brief, but an alarming mid-season slump due to a variety of factors.
The clash against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at Raipur would be a crucial one for the Red and Gold side, as they have faced two back-to-back losses to the Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). At the fourth place with six wins and four losses, RCB's remaining four matches are extremely crucial, and the way things are looking, the road ahead is a tricky one for RCB.
Here is what has gone wrong for RCB in recent matches:
*A dip in performance of middle-order batters: The Red and Gold brigade is spoiled for choice due to the number of back ups they have for their key players and positions. After a consistent top-three of Phil Salt, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, they have a solid group of Indian/overseas players in skipper Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd and Tim David.
For their first five matches, RCB's batters from numbers four to eight had the best batting average of 39.30, while striking at 190.77, also the best strike rate. A total of two half-centuries came, while 23 fours and 33 sixes were struck.
However, in the next five matches, with the Red and Gold losing more wickets in clusters and making their run-chases messy, their middle-order performance has deteriorated sharply, with their average in next five matches standing at 21 (the worst among all teams), with a strike rate of 148.58 (4th best), a decline of almost 42 runs. Only one half-century has come, with 23 fours and 23 sixes struck.
*Salt's injury, Bethell's inconsistency: Salt featured in six matches, scoring 202 runs at an average of 33.66 and a strike rate of 168.33, with two half-centuries, before a finger injury caused him to fly back home to UK, curtailing him campaign.
RCB has largely stayed tight-lipped about Salt's injury, with rumours and reports about them seeking replacements in Jake Frazer McGurk, Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Jonny Bairstow spreading on social media. As per recent reports and visuals floating online, Salt is back in India.
But in his absence, Jacob Bethell, often hailed as the 'Starboy' of English cricket, got a chance at the top. After a semifinal century against India at Wankhede, there was a massive hype around the young Englishman's inclusion in the playing XI, but with just 43 runs in four innings, including best score of 20, he has not justified this hype. Perhaps, opening is not his forte, with England utilising him from positions three to six in T20Is.
*Romario, not so 'Super Mario': Undoubtedly, Romario is a monstrous hitter and his power looks good enough to rip apart a cricket ball in two pieces. However, this season has not been so kind for the Carribbean all-rounder, having made 79 runs in six innings at an average of 26.33 and a strike rate of 143.63, with best score of 23*. In the previous clash against LSG, Romario fumbled a 20 run chase in the final over, struggling against spin of Digvesh Rathi.
This season, he has been even worse with the ball, taking just five wickets in nine matches at an average of 44.00, with an economy rate of 12.94 and a strike rate of 20.40.
Among pacers with five or more wickets this season, he has the second-worst economy rate, next to Shardul Thakur's 13.57 and fifth-worst economy rate.
*Jitesh Sharma's poor run: After a breakout season last year, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter is having the worst run in IPL history by a keeper batter, scoring just 64 runs in eight innings at an average of 8.00 and a strike rate of 108.47, including best score of 23. His inability to control the game causes Tim David and Romario to come in early.
*Hazlewood's ugly numbers in losing efforts: Often referred to as 'Hazlegod' for his ability to deliver the most under pressure, the Australian bowler has not quite delivered the excellence expected of him in this season, having taken just nine wickets in seven matches at an average of 28.77 and an economy rate of 9.41 and a four-wicket haul to his name.
In losing causes this season, these numbers look really terrible, with just three wickets at an average of 62.33, an economy rate of 11.68.
*Poor form of spinners: Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, at their most lethal, are absolutely unplayable, but at their worst, can be hit all over the park. For first five matches, RCB spinners took 11 wickets at an average of 27.63 (4th best), ER of 9.21 and a strike rate of 21.18. In next five matches, they could snap just five wickets, with the bowlnig average of 42.16 (second worst in this time frame), strike rate of 30 (worst in this time frame). Only positive is the containment, with the economy rate reducing to 8.2.
Krunal (10 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 27.00, with an ER of 8.30, best figures of 2/30) and Suyash (seven wickets in nine matches at an average of 38.42 and an ER of 8.45) need wickets. Containment itself cannot help them.
*Virat Kohli's hyper aggressive approach: Virat's remarkable turn-around in terms of strike rates and six-hitting since IPL 2024 is undoubtedly inspirational, a proof of a legend's willingness to improve and evolve, even though he has no incentive to earn in form of a T20I recall for Team India. This season, he has made 379 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 164.06 with three fifties, with his SR being the highest it has ever been in a season.
But it has come at the cost of his team's victories at times. As per ESPNCricinfo, out of 40 innings since the start of 2024 season, Virat has faced 30 or more balls. In such instances, RCB has won 18 matches, losing just two. However, in other 20 instances where he has lost his wickets within 30 or less balls, RCB has lost 14 matches and only won six. In all four losses this season, Virat has faced less than 30 balls.
RCB now has a powerful roster of Indian, overseas batters at their core, with their game style being extremely versatile from power-hitting to holding one end steady as per the situation. But Virat is still the glue that binds them all.
RCB has scored 1,862 runs this season, with 896 runs (48.12 per cent) coming while he was present at the crease, very evident of the fact that his presence at the crease often liberates and empowers the batter at the other end, knowing that a Kohli-sized safety net can control the innings in a calculative way that only he can. These factors make Virat playing out as much as he can extremely non-negotiable. His lack of presence in losses to LSG and GT, where he scored 0 and 28 respectively, has caused RCB to lose wickets in clusters.
Against LSG, RCB fell nine runs short in chase of 213, at one point 112/5 and against GT, RCB was skittled out for 155. In their loss to Delhi Capitals, where he fell for 19 to Lungi Ngidi, RCB kept lost momentum gradually and settled for a sub-par 175/8. In their first loss of the season to RR, Virat got out for 32 to Ravi Bishnoi as the third wicket at 58 runs and RCB sunk to 125/7, recovering and reaching 200-run mark courtesy a brave middle-order fightback.