IPL 2021 | RCB vs CSK: What Experts Said as well-oiled Super Kings punish lifeless RCB

After an impressive start to the IPL 2021 campaign where they achieved four consecutive wins, the normal service seems to be resuming for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they lost their second consecutive game against the Chennai Super Kings in the second phase of the IPL.

The Royal Challengers would have been ecstatic to see their skipper Virat Kohli coming to his own with signature shots and putting up a rapid partnership with Devdutt Padikkal. However, his wicket started a downturn for the men in red and gold and the men in yellow came back in the game to never let it go off their grasp by picking crucial wickets at regular intervals.

What appeared to be a chase of more than 200 runs when Kohli and Padikkal were going all guns blazing was reduced to a mere 156 runs and the Super Kings batsmen are too oiled a batting unit to let the game go away from their grasp.

Here we’ll analyse the takeaways for both the captains and the close watchers of the game.

Captains’ views

The losing captain Virat Kohli lamented the loss of momentum in batting in the end phase of the batting as they could not get to a “winning total” of 175 runs. Kohli was dismissed in the 14th over after having stitched a dominating 112 run partnership but the next 36 balls yielded only 35 runs and they lost all of their star-studded batting lineup.

"We could've got 175, that could've been a winning total,” Kohli pointed out straight away.

However, he did not pin all the blame on the batters and reminded the bowlers of their failures of not making good use of the assistance from the surface and giving the Super Kings batters plenty of free-scoring opportunities.

“The pitch had a lot to offer but our bowlers could not make use. They got away with too many boundary opportunities. They bowled well in their back end and executed the yorkers when needed,” Kohli asserted.

He took a reference to his own batting innings in the middle and said that hitting big shots were not easy if not for the “bad balls”. He said that the bowlers failed to bring their “X Factor” at the start of the innings while at the same time failing to execute specific game plans towards the end when the pressure was really high.  

“It was difficult for us to get elevation, and only bad balls could be put away. We then gave too many boundary balls. We spoke of areas we didn't want them to hit, but we couldn't do that. The X-Factor was missing in the first five overs with the ball. But it's very important to execute balls during the crunch moments. Those few moments... that's what we failed to capitalise on,” Kohli addressed the concern that left a gap between the RCB and the CSK.

The Royals have lost two consecutive games in the second phase of the IPL 2021. At first instance, they were blown away by the Kolkata Knight Riders but Kohli called the loss at the hands of the CSK “more disappointing” as they were in the game for some time before letting it slip out of their hands due to inefficient bowling and inconsistent batting. 

He urged his teammates to show “more courage” and reminded them of the level of competition in the IPL and hence the need to hit the ground running once again very quickly.

“Got to get on that winning run again. This one is a bit more disappointing. The first one we just weren't in the game. Have to show more courage in crunch moments. This tournament goes by quickly,” Kohli concluded.

On the other hand, the victorious captain MS Dhoni was all praise for his all-around brilliant side that showed their depth and did not lose calm even after a ballistic start by Kohli and Padikkal.

Dhoni agreed with his counterpart on the point of pitch slowing down from the first half of the first session, but at the same time justified his decision to bat second based on the amount of due he has seen in his experience of the venue. 

He credited Ravindra Jadeja for bowling tight lines and not allowing Padikkal to take charge of the situation. He also hailed “brilliant” bowling performances by all the bowlers to restrict the Royal Challengers 15-20 runs short of where they wanted to reach.

"We were worried about the dew, so whenever there's a chance of dew we want to bat second. They got off to a good start but after the ninth over wicket slowed down. You still had to bowl tight, and Jadeja's spell was important with Padikkal batting from one end. After that Bravo, Josh, Shardul, Deepak were brilliant,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation.

Dhoni said that he always had the idea of who would be better at the Sharjah pitch, which he rated the slowest in UAE. He also commended his players for adaptability and said that their willingness to understand their role better and take responsibility whenever asked to by the situation has been brilliant this season.

“It’s always on the back of your mind on which bowler can be effective over here. Our players have worked hard, they have understood their roles and responsibilities. Over here, the three grounds are different. This is the slowest (so far) of all. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are different. So the players have been adapting,” Dhoni praised his teammates.

 Since the start of the season, Suresh Raina has been pushed down to the number four position in the batting order with Moeen Ali replacing him at number three. However, against the RCB, he was pushed further down to number five with Rayudu coming at number four, and Dhoni reasoned that the move was taken to adopt a left hand-right hand combination at the crease to ensure smooth batting against the leg spinners and the slow nature of the pitch.

“Looking at the wicket, I felt left-right combo was important. We bat deep, we have a lot of left-handers, so in the back of the head its there. And I feel all of them are good enough to play in any position. That's why we went with the left-right combination, which may have pushed Raina and Rayudu down,” Dhoni argued.

MS Dhoni has been known for not leading his troops in a systemic way and rather following an instinctive mode of captaincy and he gave another example of that quality in the game. 

In general, Dhoni relies on Dwayne Bravo for bowling in the end overs and the course of the game was going in that direction only before He walked back on his instruction to Moeen Ali that he were to bowl after the strategic time out and instead called upon his “brother” Bravo to bowl in the middle overs.

Dhoni shared his banter with Bravo and said that he has suggested the all-rounder try six different balls on each delivery of an over in the end overs as the batters around the world have become familiar with his slower balls.

“I had told Moeen before drinks that he would be bowling soon, but then I decided Bravo should bowl. The more you delay Bravo, the more difficult it is since he will end up bowling four straight overs in these difficult conditions,” Dhoni said.

“Bravo has turned up fit - that's a very good thing. And he is executing well. I call him my brother. We always have fights over whether he should bowl the slower ball. But I told him that now everyone knows he bowls slower balls, so I told him to bowl six different balls in one over. Whenever he can, he takes up responsibilities.”

The night ended perfectly well for the Super Kings who have all but knocked the door for qualification into the final four after missing out for the first time last year.

Experts’ views

One of the sanest voices in the world of Cricket, Harsha Bhogle had feared RCB’s prospect after they lost their way during the middle phase of the game. He had stuck his neck out and said that the Virat Kohli-led side were 20 runs short of where they should have been after a brilliant start with the bat.

However, he also dissected the flow of Kohli’s batting and highlighted his fluency against the new balls and struggle when the ball got older and the pitch got slower.

When both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis were dismissed in quick succession to spinners, Bhogle had put his money on the spinners if the RCB were to win the game. 

He took cognisance of an underrated wheel in the CSK’ cog in the form of Ambati Rayudu, who along with Moeen Ali smashed RCB spinner, especially Wanindu Hassaranga, to put the CSK firmly ahead in the game.

Meanwhile, former Indian opener and now an emerging voice in the Indian cricket circle, Aakash Chopra was too confident in Bravo’s ability in the end overs and predicted a strong performance from him. He did not disappoint him and picked up three wickets including the big ones of Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli to derail RCB’s batting effort and earn the Man of the Match award.

The Super Kings have announced their comeback in the IPL in a grand manner and are in touching distance from a playoff spot. They are at the top of the points table with the help of a fantastic run rate compared to the Delhi Capitals who have won an equal number of games as they have.

They suffered their worst season in the history of the IPL last year and MS Dhoni would be delighted to lead his troops to the door of the final stages of the competition for one more time.