Royal Challengers Bangalore’s season suffered another low when they were restricted to another total less than 100. The team, which has made a name for itself due to its exceptional batting lineup, is yet to showcase their true potential this season even after the conclusion of ten matches. On the contrary, their bowling, which is traditionally known to be their nemesis, has done exceptionally well.
The bowlers have managed to restrict the opposition to below par totals but their efforts have not been complimented by their star-studded batting lineup and Saturday was no different.
After Virat Kohli elected to bowl first against Rising Pune Supergiant, his bowlers fully justified his decision by restricting the opposition to 157 for 3 in the allotted 20 overs. Pune began brightly, adding 43 runs in the powerplay but the Bangalore bowlers managed to keep things tight thereafter. In the next 5 overs, they conceded only 26 runs as Steve Smith’s men huffed and puffed to 69 in 11 overs. The batting side then got the much-needed impetus when Smith and Manoj Tiwary blasted 40 runs in the next three overs but the Bangalore bowlers once again managed to bring things under control with a disciplined bowling in the death overs.
However, their performance went in vain as the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen came a croppers once again. Virat Kohli waged a lone battle with a 55-run knock but lack of support from the other end never put them in contention to chase down the total, They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and apart from the skipper no other player could get to the double digit as the team was restricted to 96 for 9 in the 20 overs.
Speaking after the match, head coach Daniel Vettori heaped praise on his bowlers and said that their performances have been the bright spots for his team.
“The bowling performance throughout the season has been exceptional. It has been a real improvement from where we were last year and on some of the wickets that we have played on. I thought the way we fought back, particularly with Adam Milne and Sreenath Aravind in the death (at Pune). (Pawan) Negi has been fantastic for us. These have been some really bright spots in our performances,” said Vettori.
RCB’s season has been marred with injuries with the likes of KL Rahul and Sarfraz Khan missing the season but instead of ruing their absence,the former New Zealand skipper admitted that some of his players have ‘underperformed’.
“We had a number of other guys who underperformed which we didn’t expect of them. Virat has led us exceptionally well with his captaincy, with his batting. He’s been the lone light. So, the group knows where we have not performed and we need to rectify it in our next few games,” he said.
Bangalore were in a similar position last year as they had managed just a couple of wins in the first seven games. However, six wins in the next seven games saw them making it to the playoffs and eventually the final. But the revival has nowhere to be seen this season and Vettori admitted that his players are low on confidence.
“You try and do a lot of things in the background. Our experiences of last two years where we started off poorly, but we were able to rectify it. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do it this time. It is about building confidence within the group because you can see that at the moment. It is hard for the guys to take control of their games. We haven’t had that belief to allow us build the confidence which is the trickiest thing so far,” he said.
“We just try to get the guys confident, allow them to play in the manner which we expect. RCB’s catch phrase is to ‘Play Bold’ and that’s what we talked to the guys to just go out there and play the kind of game you can irrespective of the score or start of the game. Probably, some of the wickets we played on made tricky for the guys to go out there and play. They were difficult wickets to bat on, but that’s no excuse as both teams had exactly the same wickets,” he added.