At home, CSK is very tough to beat. Its captain M.S. Dhoni is still evergreen and performing at the top of his game, so the task is cut out for RCB.
I hope RCB has learnt from its mistakes and it’s important for the team to understand that it’s not just about Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers. It is about making sure that in situations when they are not at the crease, the others should step up and execute their roles properly.
At the same time, it is important for RCB to find its best unit quickly and make sure the bowling is good enough to defend whatever the batsmen get. It also needs to ensure that it restricts the opposition to a manageable total because that’s one area where it has struggled every year.
Whether Kohli bats at the top and de Villiers at No. 3, or whether they are split up, are things the team needs to look into.
Keeping it simple
Why teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and CSK have been successful is because they keep it very simple. Chennai has specific roles for players for specific situations. The strategy is very clinical and not based on emotion; it’s pure analysis and the team sticks to it.
SRH has a fantastic bowling attack, its batting is basic, but very solid. The bowlers always keep the team in the hunt no matter how many runs the batters have got.
For RCB, either the batting or the bowling has been sub-par at one point or the other. So, this is going to be an important year for RCB to vindicate the choices it makes, the strategies it adopts and the teams it picks.
Now, let’s look at the captains, Dhoni and Kohli. Kohli is an emotional skipper. He virtually bats and bowls for his players, goes through the highs and lows with them. If he can balance his genius and look at other players objectively and understand that each player is different in terms of skill and personality, things would be better.
Dhoni, on the other hand, never really second-guesses his strategy and trusts his players to perform the roles they are given. He goes by simple tactics and strategy, but is street-smart and flexible.
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