It has been a horrible start for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2024 with the Faf du Plessis-led side losing four out of their first five matches in the competition. Star batter Virat Kohli is currently the highest run-getter in IPL 2024 but lack of performances from other batters and an indisciplined bowling attack has resulted in heavy losses for the franchise. RCB’s latest defeat came against Rajasthan Royals where Kohli once again scored a century but Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson proved too powerful for the bowlers. Former India batter Aakash Chopra took to social media to dissect the key areas where RCB have gone wrong and how they have failed to address problems that have routinely bothered them.
Chopra wrote that the decision to let go of quality spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Wanindu Hasaranga has been a major issue for the side and added that the franchise needs to think beyond the preferred strategy of playing Kohli along with three overseas batters.
“You let go of Chahal to buy Hasranga. And then let go of him to invest in the uncapped Indian spinners. It’s a fairly long journey to understand that #RCB’s bowling is a perennial weak-link but the attempt to resolve it is yet to be seen. As for the batting…Kohli plus 3 overseas batters is a strategy that hasn’t worked for nearly two decades…most teams would’ve walked a different path but not the RCB. #MidnightMusings,” Chopra posted on social media platform X (formerly called Twitter).
You let go of Chahal to buy Hasranga. And then let go of him to invest in the uncapped Indian spinners.
It’s a fairly long journey to understand that #RCB‘s bowling is a perennial weak-link but the attempt to resolve it is yet to be seen.
As for the batting…Kohli plus 3…— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 6, 2024
Kohli reckoned that the Jaipur track was two-paced making strokeplay difficult but former India ODI skipper Ajay Jadeja felt that the manner in which the star batter batted, there seemed to be very little demons present in the 22-yard strip.
Kohli scored an unbeaten 113 off 72 balls with 12 fours and four sixes but RCB managed only 183/3 in 20 overs, a total that was surpassed by Rajasthan Royals with five balls to spare, courtesy Jos Buttler’s 58-ball ton.
Jadeja, an astute cricket brain, felt that there seemed to be some discrepancy in what Kohli observed and how in general the pitch behaved during the entire duration of the game.
“He (Kohli) started out so well. He hit a couple of boundaries in the first few overs, and you knew you were watching something special tonight. The only surprising thing was him speaking about how the deliveries were not carrying through on this pitch, but the way he batted, we didn’t see any shortcomings in the pitch,” Jadeja, a ‘Jio Cinema’ IPL expert said.
After scoring his eighth IPL hundred, Kohli had said the pitch was not a flat one “The wicket looks quite different from the outside. It feels like it’s flat, but the ball is holding up in the pitch, that’s when you realise the pace changes,” Kohli told the official broadcaster.
(With PTI inputs)
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