At the halfway point of the Indian Premier League, Royal Challengers Bangalore, with five wins from seven matches, looked like they were inching closer to a playoff berth. But like most of the previous seasons, it all turned out to be hoaxes and hoaxes. Three heavy defeats to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Gujarat Titans, which saw their net run rate drop, cost them dearly. Things got worse for the Faf du Plessis-led side after they lost the last league match by 54 runs to Punjab Kings. This has left RCB with the final contest of the final win against table-toppers Gujarat Titans in Mumbai on Thursday. Winning alone won’t be enough to keep the door to the playoffs open. RCB will hope to ride on their good fortune and the misfortunes of other teams.
In the current situation, RCB will have to hope to beat Delhi Capitals (14 points) against Mumbai Indians on Saturday with 14 points and a net run rate of -0.323. If both Delhi and Bangalore lose, the net run rate comes into play, and as things stand, Delhi (0.255) is ahead. There are teams on 12 points and a game to go which the party-poopers can play.
While equations play a big part in deciding RCB’s future in the tournament, their first task will be to overtake a dominant Titans led by Hardik Pandya. The budding player is on track with 10 wins out of 13 and has already booked a playoff berth. Although they have blown hot and cold recently with two losses in five matches, the last time the two teams faced each other earlier in the league, Pandya’s team won by a margin of six wickets.
Virat Kohli’s poor form has been a hot topic of discussion and this match gives the former captain the right opportunity to recover from the battle. Youngsters Rajat Patidar and Mahipal Lomror will have to avenge the team’s reliance on them, while the decision to change initially will be on big-hitter Glenn Maxwell’s mind.
Another important factor for RCB in the death overs will be the form of their finishers Shahbaz Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik. With pacer Mohammed Shami’s bowling attack and spinner Rashid Khan troubling the RCB batsmen, the match makes for an interesting contest.
Titans opener Wriddhiman Saha has been in good form and with a line-up that includes Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, and David Miller, the Royal Challengers’ bowlers are in no danger of slipping. Run-scoring pacers Josh Hazlewood and Mohammad Siraj will have to improve against Punjab and Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga will continue to deliver significant success to their side.
