RCB regress to an archaic version of themselves

First, there was a spate of injuries which exposed Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling problems. With it came flashbacks of a not-so-distant, not-so-pleasant past, but the batting unit held up to keep the chants going.

Then, last week happened where a win (against Delhi Capitals) gave them a reason to sweep some of the issues under the rug momentarily. All smiles with the promise of momentum. Now, RCB, as a franchise and as a fanbase, need to deal with the trauma of Monday night for their failings painted the M Chinnaswamy stadium in a familiar shade of red, black, and disappointment.

It wasn’t a good look at the moment. Certainly, not one which bodes well for the future.

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The result might have been an 8-run loss to the Chennai Super Kings, but RCB were out-batted, out-bowled and out-strategised by one of the winningest teams in Indian Premier League history.

While the result, in theory at least, means no more than CSK jumping to the third spot on the table and RCB remaining seventh, a loss of this nature pries open wounds - some of which were ignored in the primary, superficial reading of skipper Faf du Plessis’ original concerns.

Even as chants of ‘CSK, CSK’ reverberated to a bone-chilling doubt if the 40,000-odd people were at the Chinnaswamy stadium or at the MA Chidambaram stadium, RCB’s bowlers conceded 226 runs at 11.30 runs per over.

Seven overs saw RCB concede single-digit runs in them, but the rest were chewed up and spit out by Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube.

CSK, aware of their slim bowling options, hoped to make the most of their stint with the bat, thus relying on a hell-for-leather approach. The result was an unprecedented hammering by an opposition, the likes of which the venue has not witnessed since the opening IPL game in 2008.

RCB have battled bowling mediocrity for long enough to be desensitised to the happenings of Monday evening, but the benefit of batting second at a venue as small after the dew sets in is that a successful chase - no matter the margin - is never out of the question.

And so, despite losing Virat Kohli for 6, it was game on with Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell at the crease. Hope rode on the crests and troughs between every stroke and every dropped chance, but until the duo remained (operative words: ’duo’ and ‘remained’, RCB were cruising towards their highest successful run chase.

Du Plessis fell nine balls after Maxwell. Suddenly, though only 68 runs were needed from 36 balls with six wickets in hand, RCB needed their ‘batting depth’ to showcase skill and nous amidst the noise.

Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Wayne Parnell and Wanindu Hasaranga, in this order, tried and failed.

Perhaps, Karthik and Hasaranga could have come up the order, highlighting poor batting-order organisation. Also, RCB seem to have little grip on their utilisation of the ‘Impact Player’, bringing on Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat and Karn Sharma across four games to little or no effect.

In fact, the only time they looked a good deal composed was in the opener against Mumbai Indians when they didn’t use an ‘Impact Player’.

It’s clear now that RCB had hinged their hopes on Rajat Patidar and Will Jacks to take the load off Kohli, Du Plessis and Maxwell.

But with injuries to Patidar and Jacks, they have regressed to a time when three stars - Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Kohli - were burdened by the weight of a team’s dreams. We all know how that panned out (16 editions, no title).

Gayle and De Villiers are not associated with the team anymore, but the former Indian skipper remains. Du Plessis and Maxwell are his new comrades, and while the new trio is a good one, it still can’t do it all on its own.

The solution? If you’re an RCB fan, continue praying. Otherwise, enjoy the memes which will inevitably follow.