Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has warned Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to fill in the chinks in their armor before it’s too late for them as the IPL 2024 moves towards its business end, the playoffs.
Bengaluru barely managed to chase down 147 runs against Gujarat Titans the other night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Despite getting a flying start by captain Faf du Plessis (62) and Virat Kohli (42), who added 92 runs in powerplay, RCB lost their middle order for almost no runs.
Will Jacks (1), Rajat Patidar (2), and Glenn Maxwell (4) all came in quick succession, leaving RCB 107/4 after 8 overs. Cameron Green (1) and Virat Kohli followed soon after as RCB crumbled to 117/6, giving GT an opportunity.
However, Dinesh Karthik (21*) and Swapnil Singh (15*) led RCB to victory in 13.4 overs. RCB won by four wickets and climbed to seventh place in the points table.
They’re off the ventilator but they’re still in the ICU: Ajay Jadeja on Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has said that Royal Challengers Bangalore are off ventilator but are still in the Intensive Care Unit of IPL 2024. This came due to the splotchy performance of the franchise in their win over GT at home.
“The chinks in the armour are visible, what happened at the end. But the chance is there. They’re off the ventilator but they’re still in the ICU. We are excited about today’s match after seeing Virat and Faf bat. But the real work that was done, was by the bowlers, an aspect RCB has historically struggled at,” Jadeja said while speaking on JioCinema.
The former India cricketer stated that Bangalore may have gained momentum following their victory over Gujarat, which moved them to seventh place in the IPL points standings, but qualifying for the playoffs remains a “very difficult ask.”
“More than momentum, it’s about the mentality of the team where you know if you’re in a bad situation, someone will take you out of it… Today, it seemed like RCB picked the right road while Gujarat was on the other side. They came into the game differently from the start. I haven’t checked the statistics, but I have never seen them start a game with a six.
What Faf did, he was operating at a different pace. Later, there was some excitement in the match but at no point did it seem like this was (GT win) going to be successful,” Jadeja added.
RCB next play the Punjab Kings on May 9 in Dharamsala.
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