What Went Wrong For RCB In IPL 2023?


image-lhymamv3RCB's road ended on Sunday (iplt20.com)

A single day could never defy a team's journey of how they played in the entire edition, so can't the defeat against Gujarat Titans be the reason for Bangalore's sorrow ending in the Indian Premier League 2023? 

What was Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2023 edition of the IPL? 

A team incorporated of the giants like Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj.

Oh, that won't be what one calls a team. 

Why not?


What went wrong for RCB?

Kohli-Faf-Maxwell doing all the heavy-lifting!

An IPL team has eleven equal halves, performing equally throughout the course of 14 long league matches to stamp their authority. But RCB - like their long history - couldn't come to the party as a team.

They were - what they say - a top-heavy batting side, trying to match their bit-and-pieces players to the class of what a Kohli, a du Plessis or a Maxwell possess. 

Unfortunately for them, the DKs, the Anuj Rawats, the Shahbaz Ahmeds, the Mahipal Lomrors or the Suyash Prabhudessais could not burst onto the scene - but weren't they given enough sky to let enjoy the flying? 

Not giving enough confidence to your second-tier batters cost RCB a ton in this year's IPL. But you can't just count the Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar-led team management accountable for that. The over-reliance on the big names has been their 'Royal Challenging' legacy.


Siraj's fuelmeter signalling red in business end

Just like in batting, the same happened with the bowling. RCB were looking to tackle any mighty challenge with a single shield, i.e. Siraj. He, too, who enjoys pressures the most - initially loved that responsibility and won matches on his sheer brilliance, but naturally, his fuel tank sometime had to finish, and it drained out just before the business end.

Due to injuries or because of RCB's repetitive out-of-box thinking, Siraj's partners with the newer ball kept changing. As a result, the bowling composition could never settle in, barring a game or two here. 

If one thinks that only these things were the problem in '23, then wait a second; I am just half done.


Harshal & Vijaykumar - The two headaches

If the team in Red and Gold wouldn't score in death overs, then it wasn't like they contained them during their time with the ball. RCB did have their horses marked for this two-month-long race, but their horses weren't the best suitable ones for Chinnaswamy's course.

Harshal Patel, regarded as India's best death bowler, did get re-recognized thanks to RCB, but it seemed he was past his prime in IPL 2023, and the conditions offered at Bengaluru didn't help his case either. The team management kept jumbling between Harshal and Vijaykumar Vyshak, but the cruel conditions of Chinnaswamy didn't favour either of them.


Repayment of sin for letting Yuzi go!

image-lhyn1gdxChahal snapped 139 wickets for RCB (Twitter)

And, for the second consecutive time, Bangalore had to pay to price of the sin they did by letting go of Yuzvendra Chahal. Again, they tried fitting in a leggie in the vast void left after Chahal. Karn Sharma, who began the season well, was replaced as soon as Wanindu Hasaranga was available. But the Lankan's lack of form pushed RCB to revisit Karn, who again got pushed out after two off games.

Having all that said, if the team could have finished on the other side during their clash against LSG at Chinnaswamy or FDP & Maxy would have continued a bit longer vs CSK, or the Phil Salt blast would have hurt them - things would have fared differently for them. 

But does that guarantee success in the knockouts? I hardly think so!

PS: A heartbroken RCB fan who wishes we don't make all the mistakes next year.