Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis was not surprised by his team’s performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He pointed out the areas of concern for the team and stated that 20 runs Mayank Dagar’s change changed the game for them.
In what was their 4th defeat of IPL 2024, RCB managed a crushing 6-wicket defeat against RR. Their batting was once again led by Virat Kohli and with the ball they were once again below average as the home team took full advantage of that to earn their fourth consecutive victory of the tournament.
When asked to bat, RCB got off to a good start. Captain Faf du Plessis (44) and Virat Kohli (113*) added 125 runs for the inaugural partnership. The way they batted, it looked like they passed 200 runs on the board. However, that was not the case as after the captain’s wicket, they struggled to get going.
No other batsman could capitalize with the bat and support Virat Kohli. The opening batsman played an unbeaten innings of 113 runs and took his team to a total of 183 runs on the board. Glenn Maxwell, Saurav Chauhan (9) and Cameron Green (5*) failed to get going.
With the ball, RCB got off to a dream start when Reece Topley removed Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck. However, they couldn’t capitalize on the start as Jos Buttler (100*) and Sanju Samson (69) took the game away from them. The duo added 148 runs together for the second wicket.
Buttler upstaged Virat Kohli as he returned to form with a brilliant century. Thanks to his valiant effort, Rajasthan Royals chased down the target with 5 balls to spare. Their huge victory over RCB took them to the top of the points table.
Faf du Plessis admitted that Virat Kohli did not receive support from the other side. He also talked about the conditions that influenced his loss and said it was a good decision for RR to line up first.
The RCB captain further added that they wanted to maintain control of the ball, which they did until the fourth place. But he admitted that Dagar changed things too much for them. During the post-match presentation, he explained:
“I think we found the wicket tough in the first innings. I thought 190 was a good score, I think we could have added 10-15 runs at most. Their spinners bowled well (in the middle), good call for them to bowl first” With the dew, batting became easier. Virat was playing well at the back, with someone like Green coming in, you want to maximize those last few overs.
“We tried to push as hard as we could, but it was difficult to hit the spinners. It was easier to hit the seamers. The pitch definitely improved, you could feel it and the ball was sliding very well. We were “Excellent in the first four overs. “I think 20 overs (from Dagar) took the momentum away from us and put the pressure back on us.”
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Faf du Plessis also spoke about his decision not to bowl Glenn Maxwell, who is the team’s main wicket-taker. He said they didn’t want to be defensive and that he didn’t feel the need to throw the all-rounder. He also admitted that they didn’t play well. He elaborated:
“Not bowling Maxwell was because all the right-handers were batting, so I initially went for the left-handed spinner. With two right-handers at the crease, I went to the left-arm spinner and then brought in the leg-spinner ( Himanshu Sharma) in the attack.
“There was no point in being defensive, we needed wickets. When we got Jaiswal out, I didn’t feel the need to go to Maxwell. The fielding was average, it’s something we have talked about, we will work and try to improve.” “We don’t worry about receptions, but about showing intensity on the field.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered their fourth defeat in IPL 2024. They will next be seen in action when they face Mumbai Indians on April 11.