Get Chris Gayle and the match is yours — that’s how the oppositions have been targeting Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the last two seasons.
Their over-dependence on Gayle is not the only problem that they need to sort out. They certainly have big names in spin department — Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori and Murali Karthik — and after some smart buys during 2013 auction, their management must be amused with the look of their team.
But with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan still to make full recovery from his calf injury that he sustained during a Ranji Trophy match, and newly recruited West Indies pacemen Ravi Rampaul still striving to regain match fitness post knee injury, there bowling attack doesn’t look complete.
It won’t take other teams much time to take notice of it and plan accordingly to exploit the loop hole.
In the absence of Zaheer and Rampaul, all of RCB’s hopes are pinned on Jaydev Unadkat, RP Singh, Pankaj Singh and Daniel Christian. After all, Gayle, who has scored 1,341 runs in the two seasons for RCB, can only take care of scoring part, not defending one.
Besides, it is time for some of the emerging players to contribute towards the team’s success.
RCB’s newly acquired players provide them good options to try new combinations. If there is a need to bolster batting without changing the bowling combination, they can use Moises Henriques, Daniel Christian or Christopher Barnwell — all of them are good lower-order batsmen and can bowl seam up.
Since only four foreigners are allowed in a team, inclusion of experienced Karthik will allow coach Ray Jennings to go for an extra foreigner and may drop either of Vettori or Muralitharan and play with Gayle, Dilshan and de Villiers.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who is injured and likely to miss first four matches, will also be an important part of RCB’s plan this season. If he can carry his Test series form to IPl and make adjustment with his batting to meet the demands of Twenty20 cricket, Pujara has a chance to play a big role in RCB’s plan to shun the tag of ‘perennial bridesmaid’ and win their first title in six years. The Bangalore outfit have been runners-up in 2009 and 2011 and semifinalists in 2010.
With a new captain in Virat Kohli at helm and enough experience to guide him, all the RCB fans will hope to see their team to win the silverware this year.