IPL Stories: RCB — the eternal dreamers!
Welcome to IPL Stories, a captivating blog series delving into the aspirations, challenges, and narratives of IPL teams vying for cricketing glory
The story of why a particular team would like to win the trophy this year! What obstructs their road to victory? What is their narrative of the season! Part 1 brings RCB — the eternal dreamers in the spotlight.
A story about Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team that thrives on passion, resilience, and the undying spirit of cricket and with every passing year the coveted trophy just seems farther away. In this story, RCB’s quest for the elusive trophy takes center stage, offering a compelling narrative of determination, resilience, and the pursuit of excellence amidst formidable obstacles.
In the hearts of cricket enthusiasts, the Royal Challengers Bangalore are more than just a team; they are a symbol of unwavering dedication and unwavering loyalty. But, RCB has been criticized for overreliance on their star players, especially Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. While these players have delivered outstanding performances, the team has sometimes struggled when they have failed to perform or have been unable to carry the team single-handedly. In some seasons, RCB has lacked depth in their squad, especially in terms of backup options for key positions. Injuries and player unavailability have further exposed this lack of depth, affecting the team’s overall performance. RCB has often faced challenges in their bowling department, particularly in finding effective death bowlers and maintaining consistency in their bowling performance. This has sometimes resulted in them conceding high scores or failing to defend targets.
Let’s explore what drives RCB’s fervent desire to clinch the championship and the hurdles they must overcome to turn their dreams into reality.
RCB fans are like the stars in the night sky — unwavering, steadfast, and eternally hopeful, even when the clouds of defeat loom large. Their loyalty is a testament to the enduring spirit of cricket fandom, where passion transcends victories and losses, illuminating the journey with unwavering support and undying love. In a world of fleeting allegiances, RCB fans stand as beacons of loyalty, lighting up the arena with their unwavering devotion. This is perhaps the strongest motivations for a team to do well.
However what also comes along with this — is the burden of expectations. The stage was set this year, 17th Edition — the women’s team had just won the WPL and the team had just adopted the traditional name of Bengaluru replacing the Urbanised name of Bangalore.
Virat Kohli had a dream world cup with the bat, personally with the family adding another member, he is in a very calm,content headspace. No wonder he is leading the race to the Orange cap. In his own words — he has still got it. But do they have other batters to complement him? Is the GF in KGF actually firing? What about the 17cr aquisition? Green hasn’t really set the stage on fire. The promise of Patidar seems to fade with every match and Anuj Rawat had started brilliantly but hasn’t really fired after that. So, the much famed batting lineup hasn’t really lived up to it’s name. There are still 10 games to go, can this batting really deliver!!
RCB’s bowling often resembles a symphony struggling to find its rhythm — full of crescendos and decrescendos, highs and lows. More lows than the highs. In the history of IPL, Chahal over the years and Starc of 2015 are the only bowlers that an opposing team would like to snap from their kitty. Well Starc won’t be deaging, unavailabilty and injuries here and there, so it wasn’t in their control. But Chahal’s retention is a situation they mishandled on their own. Bowling over the years in RCB has been a journey marked by wishful thinking, frustration, over estimation and unyielding optimism, where even the darkest moments are illuminated by the flicker of hope that next time, things will be different.
Their approach to auctions has been less than optimal, to put it mildly. RCB’s auction strategy is like trying to win a chess game with random moves. They keep hoping for a checkmate, but end up in checkmate themselves. Citing example from this year — they had overbid for Cummins, and as good as Cummins is, he is not somebody who can take care of death bowling or at least doesn’t have any credentials for it. They bought Lockie, Curran, Alzarri, Yash Dayal and Cameroon Green to accompany Siraj, Akashdeep and Topley. There are a few good names in that mix, but none that gives you a guarantee of provinding you wickets up front or at the death. That’s some serious waste of money there. The best among that lot is Lockie who hasn’t played a single game yet!
However, let me assure you, the aforementioned challenges are not their main issue. Their biggest fallacy is the lacking of Indian talent in RCB squad. It’s not like RCB hasn’t gotten their hands on Indian prodigies. They have had the likes of Chahal, Dube, Rahul and even Bhuveneshwar Kumar at one point but they couldn’t retain or chose not to retain any of them. They could have made a core with these players or even foreign players like Stoinis, Moen Ali, Klassen or Hetmeyer — all of them stars of their current franchises. If we look beyond this season, if Faf goes away, DK is probably playing his last season, the lack of core will again come to the fore. As for their future captaincy prospects, it’s like trying to spot a shooting star on a cloudy night — fleeting and elusive.
Well, RCB certainly has a laundry list of issues, from auction woes to bowling blues, and let’s not forget the perpetual hunt for a captain-in-waiting. But hey, if there’s one thing RCB fans know how to do, it’s to stick by their team through thick and thin. Despite the rollercoaster ride, the undying loyalty of the RCB faithful adds a unique flavor to every IPL season.
Who knows, maybe this year will finally be the one where the stars align, the bowling might just click in future matches, and RCB emerges victorious. Until then, let’s just enjoy the drama and keep the faith!
