Three matches without the sweet taste of victory in IPL 2015 is bitter enough for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Virat Kohli ended up in the losing team after a captain’s knock of 51 off 41 balls against Chennai Super Kings in a home game on Wednesday.
In the next away match, RCB faces the high-flying Rajasthan Royals here on Friday. The RCB skipper can take heart from the performance of his spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (three wickets), Iqbal Abdulla (two wickets) and medium-pacer Harshal Patel (one wicket) against CSK.
Leaving out the inimitable Chris Gayle from the batting line-up is a big gamble RCB took to get the team combination right.
Royals, perched at the top with five wins off six games, takes pride in the Indian players chosen for specific tasks.
RCB can expect to turn the corner when lesser-known Indian players, chosen for their first-class form, can play without the anxiety of being on trial in every game. Harshal sent down 12 dot balls, sharing the pace attack with Mitchell Starc (14 dot balls) in their respective four-over quota and grabbed one wicket each.
India under-19 player Sarfaraz Khan will be in a better frame of mind in IPL 2015 with assurance that chances will come, as long as he keeps trying. Fast bowler Sreenath Arvind is replacement for injured Adam Milne, the Karnataka pacer’s second season with the Bengaluru franchise.
Royals’ player-management style offers clues in team building over seasons. Match-winners such as Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, utility players Stuart Binny, Pravin Tambe needed nurturing before turning around games on their own.
Haryana allrounder Deepak Hooda is getting noticed in his IPL debut season. Motera’s Sardar Patel stadium is home base for the boys in blue, so support is assured for Royals captain Shane Watson and his teammates.
Kohli will be hoping to break the sequence of defeats against the table topper on Friday.
