IPL 2019: How much the unavailability of players will affect RCB?
IPL is one of the biggest and most prestigious T20 tournament across the globe. Cricketers from various nations dream to come here and participate to show their skills in front of millions of viewers and fans. But very few of them get the opportunity to play in this mega-league.
However, in this 12th edition of IPL, lack of opportunities is not a concern, availability of players is. The reason behind this is the World Cup 2019. This time it will begin in England just after the completion of IPL that's the reason why most of the foreign players who are regulars in their nation's side will not be available for some part of the tournament.
Every team will be suffering given the current situation of the calender. As for any team, their combination matters a lot. RCB's case is also nothing much different from this too. But apart from this "unavailability thing", there are some respites too which can go in their favour.
Players who will not be available for the whole IPL
Unavailability of some foreign players for the whole season can create some problems for both Virat Kohli and RCB team management. Shimron Hetmyer, Moeen Ali and Nathan Coulter-Nile are some of the key overseas players who may miss some part of IPL2019. These are not just regulars in their national team, they can play a vital role for RCB as well.
Marcus Stoinis is also likely to miss half part of this season. This will definitely pump up the problems for them as he can play a very important role for RCB. However, he just managed to score 99 runs and picked up 3 wickets in 7 encounters that he played for KXIP last year. Still, his all-around abilities are so hard to ignore.
English all-rounder, Moeen Ali will also miss the latter part of the tournament due to unavailability. He made his IPL debut last year and failed to show much assurance with bat and ball apart from an innings of 65 runs against SRH. Even after the lack of performances under his name, he has the ability to win matches from his all-around skills.
Shimron Hetmyer is another name in this list. The West Indian batsman fetched a winning bid of 4.2 crores rupees from RCB in this IPL Auction. The only reason behind this is the six-hitting abilities that he showed in the away tour against India and in CPL last year. His inclusion can help RCB to remove their batting woes later in the innings that we saw last year. But his unavailability in few matches can also increase the headache for the team management. As this can create problems in the balance of the side.
This year RCB bought Shivam Dubey who plays domestic cricket for Mumbai. They also have Colin de Grandhomme who will be available for the whole IPL. Still, it is looking very hard for them to solve the puzzle of lower middle-order and unavailability of some foreign players are making their case even more unfavourable.
As expected Heinrich Klaasen may also leave the tournament in a middle. This time Quinton de Kock is not there, so he can pick up the gloves for RCB. His unavailability can open the spot for only other keeper in the squad, Parthiv Patel. After Klaasen's departure, only one option will be available, in that scenario RCB can look towards their veteran AB de Villiers for the job.
Players who will be available for the whole IPL
Here comes the name of one of the most successful players of T20 cricket, AB de Villiers. His decision of playing domestic T20 tournaments across the world after taking retirement from international cricket is like a misfortune with a positive outcome for his team and the IPL fans.
He will be available for the whole season. Many young and new players joined RCB this year, that's why his presence is even more momentous for the team. In fact, this time he can lead the RCB side in few of their matches as their regular captain Virat Kohli can take rest on few of the occasions because of the heavy workload before World Cup event.
Not only ABD, but New Zealand's cricket board have also confirmed the availability of their players for the whole tournament. That means RCB will get the services of Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee throughout the event. Grandhomme is the player who can fill the void of Moeen Ali & Marcus Stoinis. On the other hand, Tim Southee will also be there who did a very fine job for his team last year.
But this is also not going to be that easy for them. Even after all these availability and unavailability scenarios, RCB has a chance to make their mark this time.
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