The Indian Premier League title is something that has eluded Royal Challengers Bangalore since its inception in 2008. They have been called favourites due to their power-packed batting department with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers leading the line. But the susceptible bowling department has always led to their downfall with too much onus being put on Kohli and de Villiers to deliver. They could not even qualify for the playoffs in the past two seasons and finished last in 2019.
This has led to calls for a change in captaincy at RCB. Kohli has been the captain of RCB for the past 3 seasons but things haven’t improved a lot. But why is RCB not able to take the next step in their quest for the title? Former KKR captain and two-time IPL winner Gautam Gambhir highlighted some of the reasons why RCB have failed to get going.
“What Virat Kohli has said, when you are happy with your squad as a captain, you would have already planned which playing XI you want to play. If you are satisfied, then the calmness also comes along. Because there are times that you do not come to know your best XI in the entire tournament and that is why you make a lot of changes,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show.
{{/usCountry}}“What Virat Kohli has said, when you are happy with your squad as a captain, you would have already planned which playing XI you want to play. If you are satisfied, then the calmness also comes along. Because there are times that you do not come to know your best XI in the entire tournament and that is why you make a lot of changes,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show.
{{/usCountry}}“I still feel that RCB look a little batting-heavy. But one thing that you will see a little different is that the bowlers will be happy because they will not have to play 7 matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.”
Gambhir also pointed out the difference in captaincy styles of MS Dhoni and Kohli. Gambhir wants RCB to persist with a starting XI for 6-7 games to give them consistency.
“The biggest difference between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni is that MS Dhoni persists with his players for 6-7 matches. If you see RCB’s trend, they make changes very quickly because they have a doubt that their playing XI does not have a proper balance.”
“So I would want to see from RCB that even if the start is not good, they should persist with their playing XI and give them 6-7 matches. Because then only the players will give you performances and not if you give one or two matches. So if Virat Kohli has calmness in his mind that this is the most balanced squad, the important thing will be how they perform and how much he persists with these players.”
RCB will play their first game of IPL 2020 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 21st September at the Dubai International Stadium.