Royal Challengers Bangalore’s poor IPL 2017 had just ‘one plus point’

Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel, who took 3-43 in teams win over Delhi Daredevils (DD) on Sunday, believes that the inability to hit upon the right combination ruined Virat Kohli-led RCB’s Indian Premier League (IPL) season

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel said after the match against Delhi Daredevils (DD) on Sunday that the consistency shown by the spinners was the only plus point for his team in the 2017 India Premier League (IPL) season. (DD vs RCB match highlights)

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler Harshal Patel (R) celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Delhi Daredevils batsman Rishab Pant (not in picture) during their 2017 Indian Premier League match on Sunday. (AFP)

“There were very few positives for us this season but the way that our spinners performed was certainly quite impressive. (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Pawan (Negi) were both quite consistent and they played a big role in our victory today.” (DD vs RCB Scorecard)

The Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore produced a good bowling performance on Sunday to beat Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs to finish the season on a positive note. However, the victory did not change their position on the points table as they finished at the bottom with just 6 points from 14 games. (IPL final standings)

Harshal Patel (3/43) was quite impressive with the ball on Sunday and he took the key wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to break the backbone of DD’s batting line-up.

When asked about his performance, Patel said, “I am very happy to perform well for my side. I know that it was a very disappointing season for us, but at least we were able to finish it with a victory.”

This was RCB’s third victory in the season and their first win since April 18, when they defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs. It was a completely forgettable season for the 2016 finalists and Patel believes that the main reason behind their failure was the inability to find the right team composition.

“Few of our big players were injured at the start of the season and as a result, we had to play weak sides in those matches. We were also not able to get our team composition right this year and once we had lost 3-4 matches, it was too late for us to dream about the playoffs.”

It was also a disappointing season for RCB skipper Virat Kohli as he managed to score 308 runs from 10 games. However, he showed glimpses of brilliance on Sunday as he slammed 58 off 45 balls to take him team to a competitive total and Patel was all praises for the Indian cricket team skipper.

“Virat (Kohli) is a brilliant captain and it was a pleasure to play under him. He has a very positive body language and that motivated us a lot in tough situations.” he said at the post-match conference.