IPL 2019: Three reasons why RCB have struggled this season
Royal Challengers Bangalore may not have won a single IPL up until now yet without a doubt, continues to remain one of the most loved teams in the circuit. There is something around this team that really lights up the entire tournament. Maybe it’s the entertaining brand of cricket they play or may be, the passionate captain Virat Kohli himself or may be, it’s just the young vibe of the people of Bangalore – whatever it may be, the magic seems to work.
Year after year, the fans turn up in large numbers or glue to their TV screen every time RCB take the field to cheer their favorite team only to leave the stadium with disappointment more often than not. And this year has been no exception, unfortunately!
They started their campaign with 6 losses in a row – some may consider them a bit unlucky with few key moments going against them – Umpires failing to spot a no-ball by Lasith Malinga in the last over or just when they thought, they had it covered they were taken aback by Andre Russell's hurricane innings of 48 runs in just 13 balls.
And since then, RCB have been living on the edge. Though they have successfully won their next 4 out of 5 matches, they need to win every single game that comes their way and few with massive margins to really lift up their shambolic net run rate for them to have any chance to qualify for the playoffs this IPL season.
But what exactly went wrong this year? Just like every year, they looked like a formidable side but just like many other seasons, they, unfortunately, could not really transform their potential into results.
Here the three key reasons RCB have been struggling this season.
#1 Over dependence on Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers
One cannot blame anyone to play the second fiddle role to Kohli and AB de Villiers; after all, they are one of the greatest white ball players in the game of cricket today. Having said that, even these legends cannot perform every single game and need meaningful contributions from others to win matches.
Every time, they performed together or even one of them played to their potential, RCB ended up with a massive total on the scoreboard however unfortunately when they both failed to deliver, the team could not reach to even a respectable total. Only other player that has constantly chipped in this season has been Parthiv Patel, who along with Moeen Ali, has shown his class sparingly.
Clearly, RCB is heavily reliant on these two batting maestros with no other reliable options available making it extremely difficult to pose a challenging total every single game or chase down a big target under pressure.