The Royal Challengers Bengaluru side, just like previous years in the IPL, has had a blow hot, blow cold season so far in the IPL 2024. There is a severe lack of consistency as they find themselves in the bottom half of the table. Barring Virat Kohli, none of the other batters have looked like going big on a regular basis. The bowling has not been terrific either. It has put RCB in a situation where the side is not cruising like sides such as Rajasthan Royals and SunRisers Hyderabad. (IPL 2024 Points table)
Former Indian cricket team star Harbhajan Singh has called for some drastic steps in order to stem the rot.
“I am saying make Virat Kohli the captain. At least there will be a fight. Virat Kohli makes his players fight. Faf du Plessis, you have to play him. People are sitting out because of him. One player, who makes hundreds in every league is sitting out but he has come here he is sitting outside. He is sitting out because Faf is playing. Make Virat Kohli captain. This team will fight and then win,” said Harbhajan on Star Sports ahead of RCB’s match against MI.
In fact, RCB captain Faf du Plessis himself admitted that things have not been smooth for the side in the IPL 2024. “We’ve tried to change things, so we’ve given chances to some of our players, some new players and it’s up to them to take the opportunity. It’s important to give players a decent run, but we’ve found ourselves in a stage where we haven’t done well, so it’s time to make changes. One thing that’s important is to be consistent and that’s where we’ve been disappointing. But we know we can turn this around,” he said ahead of the match.
RCB are one of the sides apart from Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants which are yet to win the IPL. Along with DC and PBKS, RCB have been playing in the IPL since 2008.