“There are no fairy tale endings in sport”
These were the words of Dinesh Karthik, one of the two players many Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans hoped they would win the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title for, after they lost the Eliminator to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday.
The men in red and gold were favourites to win, having reached the Playoffs against the most improbable odds stacked against them. Yet RR showed that past form mattered for little in a knockout fixture as they beat RCB by four wickets to book their place in Qualifier 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Friday.
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For RCB, IPL 2024 was a tale of two halves. From battling it out for the wooden spoon in the first half, they found their right combination at exactly the right time and beat all calculations and expectations, to qualify for the Playoffs.
Since finishing last in IPL 2019, RCB have now made the Playoffs cut in four out of the five subsequent tournaments. However, in three of those editions, they have lost the eliminator clash. Is there a new minor mental block developing there? Incidentally, the only edition where they won the eliminator match, they lost to RR in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad in IPL 2022.
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The run to the Playoffs in 2024 was not dominating, yet one can’t deny that it was an inspiring streak of victories, which culminated in a thrilling win over Chennai Super Kings. Virat Kohli was, by some distance, RCB’s most consistent batter this season. Whether he was their best batter is up for debate, but 741 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 154 meant that the 35-year-old was RCB’s batting bank, right through the tournament.
To Kohli’s credit, he did show a few new shades to his batting in this IPL- the use of the sweep shot to spin and a willingness to go aerial against pace and spin at different stages of the innings- and these aspects bode well for India with the T20 World Cup less than 10 days away.
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If Kohli was RCB’s most consistent batter, then Rajat Patidar was the most watchable batter of the franchise. Before the start of this year’s IPL, Shivam Dube was considered the spin-hitting beast of the tournament. By the end of the group stages of this year’s IPL, the Madhya Pradesh right-hander had surpassed Dube as the best Indian player of spin.
The likes of captain Faf du Plessis, Karthik and Will Jacks made significant contributions at different stages of the tournament to ensure RCB stayed in contention, even if it was by the skin of their teeth.
RCB’s bowling revival from the shambles of the first half to the sureal in the second might need a separate piece altogether. It felt as if nature had taken a huge broom and cleaned the cobwebs in the mind clean and set them free, once they needed to win all their matches.
Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal invariably struck with the new ball. Swapnil Singh offered them control. Lockie Ferguson came into his own, in the middle overs. Cameron Green played his role as the sixth bowling option almost to a T. The pieces in the bowling puzzle fell into place, at exactly the right time for the franchise as they offered the much desired support to the batting to keep the team afloat.
So, as yet another season ends without standing on the podium for RCB, that begs the most important question ahead of IPL 2025: Who should they retain? The most ardent of supporters would pick Kohli. At 35, with his fitness still better than any player in the team and arguably in the league, you would think RCB would want him for another three years.
Patidar, who, it must be remembered, came in as a replacement for Luvnith Sisodia in 2022, has shown his pedigree in a sufficient number of games and has age on his side. Ahead of the 2022 mega auction, RCB opted to retain Glenn Maxwell as the all round option and Green could be that player ahead of the 2025 auctions.
The fourth retention might be a toss up between Jacks and Siraj. The former showed he could win games on his own with the bat with a century against Gujarat Titans and has age on his side. The latter has been an RCB loyalist, but has had his ups and downs in the last three years with fans questioning how the franchise released the other yesteryear bank-Yuzvendra Chahal- and retained him.
That decision remains the dilemma for RCB and the possible reintroduction of the Right-to-Match (RTM) cards could make their job easier. What cannot be changed, however, is that RCB will head into the mega auction without a title win for 17 seasons. Will the title come to Bengaluru when the IPL turns an adult in 2025? Only time will tell.
Stay updated with the latest from T20 World Cup 2024, including T20 World Cup 2024 Schedule and updated list of Highest-run getters In T20 World Cup 2024 and Highest wicket-takers. Explore T20 World Cup Match Today. Check T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours , Most Fifties And Most HundredsIn T20 World Cup 2024.
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