Bangalore were all out for 115 against Rajasthan. Pic: IPLT20.COM
Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has commented on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) failure to chase down 145 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He believes this loss should worry Bangalore a lot more than the 68 all out in their previous IPL 2022 match.
According to Bishop, their capitulation against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) could be put down to “one bad game.” However, this is not the case with the performance against RR.
RCB were set to chase a very gettable 145 at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday. However, they put up a poor batting performance to fold up for 115. Discussing Bangalore’s batting effort on Tuesday, Bishop told ESPNcricinfo:
“This worries me a lot more (than 68 all out) because I am still not seeing Virat Kohli getting the runs that he needs to get for this team to prosper. That middle-order, if Glenn Maxwell doesn’t fire, and you can go at him with hard pace if you have it in your armory, is a real concern. The guys were saying RCB have one bad game a year. That last game was it. But if you can’t chase 145, you have got issues.”
On the expected line, Bangalore dropped Anuj Rawat and moved the struggling Kohli to the top of the order. But the change did not work as the former franchise skipper registered another failure. Analyzing Kohli’s woes, former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori suggested that the batter must go all out and try to hit his way out of trouble.
He said:
“Kohli still looks like he is feeling for an innings. Faf du Plessis and Maxwell need him to lead and take a little bit of pressure off them and just be as aggressive as possible. He can step out and take momentum, he can carve through the off-side and put pressure back on the bowlers.”
The 33-year-old was dismissed for 9 off 10 balls. He tried to take on a short ball from Prasidh Krishna, but only managed to toe-end the stroke and ended up getting caught.
“Couldn’t see RCB coming with two bad games in a row” – Ian Bishop
Reflecting on Tuesday’s loss, Bishop expressed surprise at Bangalore coming up with two poor performances in a row. He expected a good side like RCB to overcome the after-effects of 68 all out. The former Windies cricketer concluded:
“Couldn’t see RCB coming with two bad games in a row. They have some serious issues to deal with. It was good to see Virat at the top, but if RCB are to go further, he has to get runs.”
The loss to Rajasthan on Tuesday was Bangalore’s fourth defeat in five games. With 10 points, they are in fifth position in the IPL 2022 points table.
