Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis wasn’t amazed by how his team performed 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 over from Mayank Dagar changed the game for them.
In what was their fourth loss of the IPL 2024, RCB bagged a thrashing 6-wicket loss against RR. Their batting yet again was carried by Virat Kohli and with the ball they were yet again below average as the home team took full advantage of that to win their 4th consecutive win of the tournament.
Asked to bat, RCB were off to a good start. Skipper Faf du Plessis (44) and Virat Kohli (113*) added 125 runs for the opening partnership. With the way they batted, it seemed that they went past 200 runs on the board. However, that wasn’t the case as after the wicket of the captain, they struggled to get going.
No other batter could capitalize with the bat and support Virat Kohli. The opening batter 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 had a dream start as Reece Topley removed Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck. However, they couldn’t cash on the start that got 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 outshined Virat Kohli as he returned to form with a brilliant century. Based on his valiant effort, Rajasthan Royals chased the target with 5 balls to spare. Their massive win over RCB took them to the top of the points table.
Faf du Plessis admitted that Virat Kohli didn’t get the support from the other end. He also talked about the conditions that played a part in their loss, saying it was a good decision for RR to field first.
The RCB skipper further added that they wanted to keep things tight with the ball, which they did till 4th over. But admitted that Dagar’s over-changed things for them. Speaking during the post-match presentation, he explained:
“I think we found the wicket tricky in the first innings. I thought 190 was a good score, think we could have added 10-15 runs max. Their spinners bowled well (in the middle overs), good decision for them to bowl first. With the dew, batting got easier. Virat was playing well at the back end, with someone like Green coming in, you want to maximize those last overs.
“We tried to squeeze as hard as we could, but it was tricky to hit against the spinners. It was easier to hit the seamers. The pitch definitely got better, you could feel it, and the ball was skidding along nicely. We were excellent in the first four overs. I think that 20 runs over (from Dagar) took the momentum away and shifted the pressure back on us.”
I didn’t feel the need to go to Maxwell – Faf du Plessis on his decision to now bowl Australia player
Faf du Plessis also opened up about his decision to not bowl Glenn Maxwell, who is the leading wicket-taker for the team. He stated that they didn’t want to be defensive and he didn’t feel the need to bowl the all-rounder. He also admitted that they didn’t field well. He elaborated:
“Not bowling Maxwell was because all right-handers were batting, so went to the left-handed spinner initially. With two right-handers at the crease, went to the left-arm spinner and later got the leg spinner (Himanshu Sharma) into the attack.
“There was no point of being defensive, we needed wickets. When we got Jaiswal out, I didn’t feel the need to go to Maxwell. Fielding was average, it’s something we have spoken about, we’ll work and try to improve. Not worried about catches, it’s about showing intensity on the field.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered their fourth loss of the IPL 2024. They will be next seen in action when they take on Mumbai Indians on 11th April.
