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The Royal Challengers Bangalore team, led by Anil Kumble and Daniel Vettori, failed to reach the final of the IPL series since 2008. In 2016, Virat Kohli led the team to the final and lost the trophy by 8 runs at the last minute. Criticisms arose that the Bangalore team could not even think of a trophy until Virat Kohli’s as he could not win the trophy even once under his leadership from 2013 – 2021.
New Captain, Old Almanac:
As a result, he stepped down from the post last year. But in the next 7 matches Sotappa started with only 3 wins and the team went to the play-off round as the 4th team with the help of Mumbai who defeated Delhi.
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After losing in the eliminators in successive seasons 2020 and 2021, the team defeated Lucknow by 112 * (54) this time. However, the team lost to Sotappi Rajasthan in the pre-final Qualifier 2 match and missed out on a chance to win the trophy for the 15th time.
Despite the new captain on the whole there was no change in the winning outcome of that team as in the old Almanac. Well let’s look at the main reasons why that team slipped this year:
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1. Late Eleven: Australian players Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood were unable to play in the opening 4 matches as they joined the team late after finishing the Pakistan series. So early on that team was unable to pick the best playing eleven. To make up for that, young Delhi batsman Anuj Rawat was given the opportunity to open the innings with just 109 runs in 8 innings.
Similarly, when Akash Deep, Sherban Rutherford and David Wiley were tried as extra bowlers in those early matches, the attempt was abandoned as the 206-run target in one match was easily chased by Punjab Assault.
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2. Abandoned top order: The poor batting of the top order was the main reason for the team’s defeat this year. In particular, Virat Kohli, who had to lead the way, scored only 22 runs in the first 5 matches, including 3 Golden Duck outs. Captain Duplessis did not add a large number of runs in most matches except for a few matches with him who acted roughly to the last.
Likewise Glenn Maxwell played a minor action-packed innings but did not bat as much as he did last year. An example of this is the team’s all out for 68 against Hyderabad despite all these stars.
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3. Cheated Retention: Apart from Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Siraj were the only three players to be retained by the Bangalore team before the auction. Retained for Rs 9 crore, Mohammad Siraj took just 9 wickets in 16 matches at 10.08 in a bad economy.
What are the strengths:
1. Bowling: The team’s bowling has been bad for Bangalore’s defeat in the past. But this year Hazelwood and Herschelle Patel have excelled in almost every match on the crack shot. But Siraj, the 3rd fast bowler, acted roughly and wasted their fight.
Similarly, Glenn Maxwell corrected Sahal’s absence as a part-time bowler after Hasarnga bowled a spin. So with the exception of Siraj, the team’s bowling has been strong this year.
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2. Middle order: Bad middle order batting was the main reason for Bangalore’s failure in years like 2016. But this year Dinesh Karthik has excelled in all the matches except the Qualifier 2. Similarly, Rajat Patidar, who scored 170 runs in the knockout match, has emerged as the new captain of the team. With him Sabas Ahmed added strength in the middle order.
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