What do you need to become an IPl championIJ That’s probably the question that has been bothering Royal Challengers Bangalore for the past seven years.
RCB have everything that is required to be a champion. Their batsmen are bowlers’ worst nightmare. Their pacers can clock 150km/h on a regular basis. Even off the field they give opposition run for their money (literally!) waging bidding wars to drain other franchises of their funds. Not that they themselves shy of spending big bucks (remember they bought Yuvraj Singh for Rs14 crore last season).
Yet, they never got to put their hands on the IPl trophy.
RCB’s problem is more psychological than technical. Big occasions affect their senses. They reached Final twice but both the times the occasion got the better of them — lost to Deccan Chargers in 2009 and Chennai Super Kings in 2011. They surrendered a knockout spot in 2013 when their star-studded batting line failed to chase just 133 runs against Deccan Chargers, who had lost 11 out of 14 matches that season. And who can forget that RP Singh no-ball to Ravindra Jadeja in 2013.
last year they finished seventh in the points table after entering the second half of the tournament with three wins. There were some brilliant efforts by individuals — like Yuvraj Singh’s 83 off 38 balls where he also grabbed 4 for 35 — but collectively they failed for the lack of depth.
This year they have tried to sort out that problem by picking players who can reduce the pressure on their big-hitters — Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli.
RCB let go off Yuvraj, who was eating a big chunk of their resources, but splurged Rs10.5 crore on Dinesh Karthik. It was a good move as Karthik can relieve de Villiers of wicket-keeping duties to concentrate on batting and fielding — may be bowling too! — and he himself is an aggressive batsman.
RCB also signed two T20 specialists — West Indies’ Darren Sammy and South Africa’s David Wiese; both of them are also handy bowlers.
More importantly, they invested in the players of Indian origin. S Badrinath is a reliable batsman while Mandeep Singh and Manvinder Bisla are proven performers. Also, Ashok Dinda, Harshal Patel and Abu Nechim Ahmed are good enough to hold their own.
Thus, it seems RCB have covered all their bases this time. And hopefully this could be their turn to take the glittering IPl trophy home.