Will Bangalore end its long wait for the IPL under Kohli?

Now, maybe calling it a ‘long wait’ might a sound little too far-fetched for most people, at least non-RCB fans anyway, since the IPL is only into its sixth year, but considering the fact that we’ve been runners-up twice and in the knockouts on another couple of occasions, you will find it easier to empathize with our feelings.

Chris Gayle in action during the IPL match between RCB and KKR at Chinnaswamy Stadium,in Bangalore on Thursday 11th April 2013. (IANS Photos)

We’ve seen the trophy being lifted by the erstwhile Deccan Chargers, the wooden spooners from the first season and put up with the ignominy of having been pulverized by our bitter rivals the Super Kings. And last year, we missed out on qualifying for the playoffs by the narrowest of margins. In fact, we have enough potential to become the Proteas of the IPL – dominate the league stages, set some records on the way, then choke.

But with four games played and three of them won, two of them being comprehensive victories over two very competent sides, we’ve got off to a really promising start, almost as promising as the one we had under Anil Kumble in IPL III. The side too looks like a stable enough one, not least when Chris Gayle is in the mood to ravish bowling line-ups. So there is a bit of excitement among most of the RCB fans regarding our prospects and title hopes for IPL VI.

Of course, this is more than a little similar to what was being said in 2010 when Kumble’s boys were taking the league by storm, but then there were a few doubtful tells that we failed to notice under Kumble’s confident grin. Besides, there was a bit of a ‘too good to be true’ factor surrounding our blockbuster start to the season. It was, as we crumbled in the second half, scraped into the semis and lost to a fresh and confident Mumbai side.

RCB’s Henriques celebrates the wicket of KKR’s Yusuf Pathan with his skipper at Chinnaswamy Stadium,in Bangalore on Thursday 11th April 2013. (IANS Photos)

This year, however, there seems to be a really good adhesive bonding among the men in red and gold (and blue) under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Some people are just born to be leaders. Some predicted Kohli’s coronation the day he was signed up by RCB, when he was 20 years old and people were beginning to forget his exploits with the triumphant U-19 team of the previous year. He can empathize with the youngsters of the team and also coax every bit of potential out of the seniors. The likes of Mayank Agarwal, Lokesh Rahul, Jaidev Unadkat and even Arun Karthik to an extent, will feel a hundred times more secure under someone like Kohli than Daniel Vettori. His hands-on approach to captaincy and his desire and ability to lead from the front, sparks up his team mates into life.

Our batting has always been our greatest strength as well as our most apparent weakness for a while now, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime in the near future. We’ve lacked a quality Indian batsman apart from Kohli ever since the departure of Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey, and Saurabh Tiwary would have won the ‘Dud of the season’ award last year hands down if there had been such an award. But we all know that if our top order fires, we are as close to being ‘Invincible’ as it can get. Agarwal has really understood his role in the side and has become really vital to RCB’s game plan. As Gayle settles in and finds his footing, Agarwal assumes the role of the loaded gun at the top and his job is to score around 30-35 runs at a brisk enough rate and ensure that RCB get at least to the mid 40s at the end of the Powerplay overs.

Then come Kohli and AB De Villiers, whose roles are largely dictated by how Gayle is playing at the other end. If Gayle is out, it rests on either or both of these batsmen to construct the innings, and if Gayle is batting and batting like he did last night against KKR, their role is to simply rotate strike and punish the odd bad ball.

RCB’s RP Singh celebrates after the wicket against KKR at Chinnaswamy Stadium,in Bangalore on Thursday 11th April 2013. (IANS Photos)

A lot has been said about the lack of a ‘genuine’ pace bowler in the RCB ranks. But RP Singh has been clinical in his two games and Vinay Kumar is, well, Vinay Kumar. The fact that we haven’t conceded anything over 165 yet, already having played three in Bangalore, is good enough. And the one game we lost, we lost it in the super over after almost defending a modest total of 130. That should be attributed more towards luck than anything else, if you ask me.

Muralitharan hasn’t really been the most effective spinner in the tournament, but there’s always Vettori to be brought in if Muralitharan isn’t in form. Murali Kartik is a really good enough complement to a fresh pace battery and overall, RCB look good enough for a place in the playoffs at the least.

Let’s just hope that this is the year when they become more ‘Royal’ and less ‘Challengers’ and get that trophy to the Garden City.