Old issues surface again in RCB's sinking ship
That Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have often promised much without fulfilling the same has been a frustrating story that has defined a much-loved and followed cricket team.
That Virat Kohli has shouldered a major burden of expectations every time he turns out for the team is also no secret.
Saturday was no different in Jaipur. Table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) weren't at their fluent best with the ball or on the field, but against a lineup that has got a lot wrong from selection to execution, it never hurt the hosts.
The last time this writer conducted a post-mortem of an RCB defeat, he spoke about certain self-laid traps amidst a chaos-ridden performance. The chaos never reduced on Saturday while the traps were visibly on display again. There were signs of a team that is confused over how to maximize its resources with one poor performance having a ripple-effect on another.
Yet, a good part of the attention was on Kohli - as it almost always is - as he tonned up for a record eighth time in RCB colors. One part of the conjecture spectrum deems it a carry job. Another reckons he could have done better. You can't necessarily fault the second of those considering that when he got to his hundred on the 67th delivery he faced. It marked the joint-slowest ton in the league's history, with Manish Pandey doing something similar way back in 2009.
Kohli's gifted wrists and unparalleled pace game were on full display as he took down Trent Boult and Nandre Burger in the powerplay. Sanju Samson was not one to wait for something to happen, however, activating Plan B in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
On a pitch that had grip and low bounce to aid the spinners, Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis were forced into deceleration. Yet with all those wickets in the shed, Kohli tapping Ashwin away without looking to force the issue was a bemusing sight. As was a conservative approach towards the back end of the innings before he pulled the trigger after he got to his hundred.
But having faced 72 balls (60 per cent of the batting innings) for 113, it amounted to a scoring rate of 9.42 runs per over. It was just better than the overall innings scoring rate of 9.15 RPO but for someone who faced a huge chunk of deliveries, the difference just had to be larger.
Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell haven't been in the best of touch this season. However, in an innings that saw RCB lose just three wickets and their second best batter this season (Dinesh Karthik, by the way) not even bat, even the slowness of the pitch doesn't justify the eventual score they put up in lieu of the possibility of dew - which was an eventual reality - and a toothless bowling unit.
RCB's woes just keep compounding
Despite the fact that this was arguably the least impressive of all of Kohli's eight IPL tons till date, he is anything but a concern. Over the years, he has been the man steering the ship, be it for India or his IPL franchise. But the Titanic named RCB just has far too many holes at this point and it is sinking quickly.
Their skipper not scoring runs isn't helping their cause. Du Plessis did break free against Boult when Samson snuck an over of the Kiwi in but his form has been a big worry for a man who turned in an all-time great campaign last year. If there's anything more worrisome than that, it has been his decision-making.
The selection policy has for long been an issue with RCB. It was going to be an issue this time the moment they traded Cameron Green in given how it messed up their auction purse and their quest to solve the bleeding obvious problem - their bowling. Instead, it's their bowlers who are bleeding runs no matter who they front up against.
Mayank Dagar and Himanshu Sharma are highly talented young spinners. But they aren't frontline match-winners by any stretch. Dagar handed the final powerplay over just as Buttler started to get into his groove proved to be a disaster; too full and he was pumped back over his head, too short and he was pummeled. In short, it was the over that summed up the long ride RCB were in for as the English white-ball captain looked determined to make merry.
There were some glaring standard errors - bowling Dagar at the wrong juncture, underbowling Reece Topley when the Challengers just had to go for the kill and not bowling Glenn Maxwell at all. The buck stops with du Plessis as the captain and some tough questions were bound to come his way at the conclusion of the match.
At the same time, a lot also stems from the squad construction. The absence of flexibility in promoting a left-handed spin-hitter has been addressed before on this platform. But not selecting the in-form Mahipal Lomror and promoting young Saurav Chauhan with just over five overs to go is a decision that genuinely defies all sorts of conventional wisdom.
Quite clearly, RCB don't seem to know how to use Green either. It's been a throwback to the old RCB syndrome where the franchise has gunned for the flavor of the market only to not know what to do with him. It's neither helping the player, nor the team. And this sure doesn't seem like a team run by Andy Flower, who has developed a reputation as a master T20 strategist around the world and has nailed matchups and entry points to perfection.
What next then?
The campaign is far from over. But a sullen look on du Plessis' face post the game summed up everything that has gone wrong for the team so far.
There are calls to bring Will Jacks into the setup to add a game-changing match-winner to the team's ranks, except, he too is an opening batter. So who makes way? Mohammed Siraj has continued to struggle as the leader of the pack and the bowling, no matter what they try, will remain the side's weaker link. That it has been even on surfaces that have had something in them to work with is a damning indictment of the long road RCB have to brace for.
Another troubled team, the Mumbai Indians (MI), are whom RCB next face at the Wankhede Stadium. The roof will come down once Kohli strides out to bat but the roof must not - metaphorically of course - come down on whatever little confidence remains within the team's ranks.
The Wankhede Stadium can be a nightmare for bowlers after the ball stops swinging. But RCB's batters will be relieved if they walk into a ground where they can send the ball flying into the crowd at will. Their desperation to turn things around is just as much as that of the bowlers.
Simple solution for their woes - a collective performance with tighter bowling, sharper fielding and an even spread of contributions amongst their batters. That easy eh?
Except, the fact that this is the solution sums up what has gone wrong for the team so far, with the same mistakes surfacing. Time is running out with most other teams making a move. A win and resultant smiles can do wonders. The only way ahead from this rut is upwards, you'd think. But if they repeat some of the rookie mistakes they've made in their first five outings, not much is going to change.