The Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost their last match, but that does not mean they need to panic when they take on Gujarat Titans in Bengaluru on Friday.
RCB have played quite well this season, with fours wins and two defeats. The first loss was to Rajasthan Royals, when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel went on a rampage. The second was inflicted by Delhi Capitals when the RCB batters failed to fire on full throttle.
They look weak when their famed batting attack fails in unison, but then that holds true for any team. Without runs, it’s almost impossible to win a T20 match, more so in the IPL.
Against Delhi, barring Phil Salt (63), all the others had a bad day at the office. With Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar and Tim David doing little, RCB ended up with a below par total and that cost them the match. But it doesn’t look like they will falter every day and so it is the Titans who should be the worried party.
The Titans, who are coming off a crushing defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians, have had a mixed season and have hardly looked convincing.
Three wins and three losses suggest their good and bad are balanced, but it is not so. They have been good only in patches and their batting looks very shaky. Unless captain Shubman Gill, or someone like Jos Buttler finds the treasure of red-hot form, the Titans risk slipping further as the season progresses.
So it might all come down to how the Titans bowlers fare against RCB’s batting
excellence.
They depend a lot on Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan. If the others — Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma, Washington Sundar — chip in, the Titans can harbour hopes of surprising the defending champions.
If not, whether they bat first or second, RCB have just too much muscle power to
slay the Titans.