RCB makes it 4 out of 4 in IPL 2021

The gap between RCB and the other teams is expanding each passing day! Consistency has always been a bane for this team over the years but this season has been very different. The best part for them has been how various players have risen to the occasion thereby not putting extra pressure on Virat Kohli and AB DeVilliers. Another important point to note is that many Indian players have given match-winning performances over the last 4 matches. 

I didn’t expect Rajasthan Royals to win against RCB yesterday but I didn’t expect them to lose the way they lost finally. 180 runs to chase looked like a walk in the park and we were treated to another one-sided contest at the Wankhede. 

So let’s look at the hits and misses from yesterday’s match:

The Hits:

Devdutt Padikkal had a great Vijay Hazare trophy a few weeks ago. He and Prithvi Shaw were the eye-catchers in that tournament! I expected Padikkal to do well this year and finally, he came to the party yesterday scoring a great century off 52 balls. A strike rate of over 190 ensured that for the initial part of the chase, Virat Kohli was a spectator! Padikkal is a great find for India and I won’t be surprised if he gets selected to the Indian team later this year.

Virat Kohli has been in not-so-good form this season and it was good to see that he was playing himself in yesterday. With Padikkal going great guns, he could afford that too. Then midway through the innings, the swag was back. The cover drives were back and I could sense the old Virat Kohli back with a vengeance! Good that he didn’t get out yesterday and helped RCB win by 10 wickets. Yes, it was not a great bowling attack but such a sweet innings will hold him in good stead in future matches! It was clear that the good batting conditions at the Wankhede were being thoroughly enjoyed by both the openers of RCB.

Rajasthan Royals has been laid low by two of their main foreign recruits not playing in the IPL due to injuries. This has led to a situation where Jos Buttler along with David Miller and Sanju Samson has to do the bulk of the scoring. Siraj showed his class by picking up two of these 3 to put Rajasthan in the backfoot within the power play. Siraj is a completely different bowler after the Australia series. He has very good control and hardly misses the length. His only weakness is bowling in the death and yesterday his figures were distorted by the final over that he bowled when Rahul Tewatia unleashed some big shots. But the damage that Siraj caused to the Rajasthan’s top order in his first spell ensured that RCB didn’t need to chase a very big total. His Yorker to dismiss Miller was the best delivery of the match. Either way, 3/27 was a match-turning performance by Siraj.

At 18/3 it seemed to be game over for Rajasthan Royals and when Sanju got out it didn’t even feel like Rajasthan would be able to post a decent total. But thanks to Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia, Rajasthan Royals were able to post 177 runs which though under par felt like a decent total. Dube has been an underperformer in IPL but yesterday he looked set for a big score. He must be very disappointed that he couldn’t stay till the end. If he had done so, Rajasthan would have posted a far bigger total than what they did eventually. For Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia, it’s important for them that they hit big scores when they get the opportunity because it’s those match-turning innings that make the selectors look towards you. The 30s and 40s won’t take them there. I hope both of them play to their potential in the future.

The misses:

Sanju Samson will soon be known as Mr. Inconsistent. With the kind of talent he has, it’s quite disturbing to see the way he gets out. He is never out of form but he plays shots in the air, way too much at the start of the innings. Most of the time he gets out to such experiments and it’s high time he understands that. With Rajasthan missing the services of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes it’s important for them that Sanju along with Jos Buttler plays big innings consistently. Otherwise, this team will keep struggling.

The form of Yuzvendra Chahal is disturbing me a lot. He used to be the go-to man for Virat Kohli previously and now he is unable to finish his quota of 4 overs. Indian cupboard is blank when it comes to wrist spinners and this is one department that could bite India hard in the World Cup later in the year. Can Chahal get his form back? I hope to get an answer by this tournament ends.

What to look forward to?

I expected Saini to play yesterday but Virat went with Kane Richardson. I hope Saini gets a chance in the next match because he is a very good talent though Siraj and Harshal Patel his pushed him to the bench.

This team is on a roll and I don’t think they need to make any changes. They will hope that their top order remains in form and I am sure if that happens then RCB will finally win the IPL for which they have been waiting for so long.

For Rajasthan Royals, I hope their experiment with Manan Vohra has ended. He has got enough chances with no returns. It’s high time they get Yashasvi Jaiswal in the top order. Also, I don’t think Shreyas Gopal is adding any value to the team. They should get Karthick Tyagi to replace him.

Will it solve their woes? I am not sure because for them to become competitive they would need Sanju and Buttler to play big innings consistently!

So what do you think? Will RCB win the IPL this year? 

Do write in as Mumbai Indians take on Punjab Kings later in the evening at Chepauk.

PS. Never underestimate yourself. Yesterday Virat Kohli after winning the toss was seen taking a back seat and letting Sanju Samson decide what he wants to do completely forgetting that it was he who had the right to decide. After umpteen times losing the toss he is surprising himself by winning tosses. It was the most hilarious moment of the match.

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