Look back at RCB’s batting failures in the last few seasons
A star-studded squad, world-class batsmen, a prolific leader and massive fan following– Royal Challengers Bangalore has it all to steamroll any opposition on their day. Despite their robust artillery, the Bangalore franchise has not lifted the IPL trophy even once in the last 12 years.
They’ve reached the finals of the tournament but have always fallen short of clinching the silverware. The presence of explosive batsmen like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen hasn’t resulted in RCB clinching the coveted trophy.
Barring individual batting performances, the Bangalore franchise has failed collectively as a unit. And, the presence of above mentioned world-class hitters hasn’t helped RCB during their 12-year IPL journey.
A struggling batting unit
In the 10th edition of the league (2017), RCB finished last in the league table. It was a woeful season for the franchise and along with poor bowling display, lack of runs on the board was also tagged as RCB’s reason for failure. KL Rahul, who was expected to do wonders for the team in the batting department, jolted RCB by pulling out of IPL 2017 owing to a shoulder injury.
In the previous season, he had gathered 397 runs in 12 innings at 44.11. To add to RCB’s woes, the trio of Kohli–De Villiers–Gayle failed to deliver match-winning performances. Kohli and De Villiers failed to make an impact while Gayle had an inconsistent below-par season with the bat.
Kedar Jadhav, who came into the tournament after delivering an impressive performance in the ODI series against England, dazzled at the start by scoring a match-winning 37-ball 69 against Delhi Daredevils. However, his form dried up after that and he never went past the 50-run mark in the next 8 games which he played.
The debacles
Coming into the 2018 edition of the tournament, skipper Kohli was at his best as he mustered 530 runs. However, RCB was a revamped side, without the likes of Rahul and Gayle. Along with Kohli, Mr 360 AB de Villiers, as expected, put up an impressive show with his willow and amassed 480 runs. Occasional impressive knocks from Mandeep Singh, Quinton de Kock and Parthiv Patel led to RCB having a better season in 2017.
However, it was still not enough for them to pave their way into the Playoffs. RCB finished sixth on the points table, registering six wins from 14 matches and gathering 12 points in the process. It was one of those campaigns where RCB’s middle-order failed completely despite the ‘Kohli-De Villiers’ show.
The previous season (IPL 2019) was arguably one of RCB’s worst campaigns. They continued under Kohli’s captaincy and finished the season with five wins from 14 matches, finishing last in the points table. Kohli (464) and De Villiers (442), once again emerged as RCB’s flag bearers in the batting force. However, the franchise’s connection with inconsistent batting was evident yet again. Kohli was also criticized for his captaincy as fans felt he failed to fully utilize the potential of Shimron Hetmyer and Moeen Ali.
Hetmyer played just five matches and was part of a revolving door policy which comprised other players like Colin de Grandhomme (4), Gurkeerat Singh (3), Pawan Negi (7), Akshdeep Nath (8) and Heinrich Klaasen (3). Apart from Kohli and De Villiers, Parthiv Patel notched up 373 runs in 14 matches and strengthened his position in the squad. With the inclusion of Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal, RCB is expected to fare well on the UAE soil this season.
