IPL 2016 final: What went wrong for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore?

As AB de Villiers was mic'd up in the initial overs of the grand final, he said with a quiet confidence that they were sure to emerge victorious. No matter what the opposition would throw at them, De Villiers said, they were ready to counter it with equal finesse.

At one level, the words would have suggested brash arrogance had been uttered by anyone else apart from ABD. But coming from him, it could be read as the hunger and passion of a man who, despite a stellar career till date, cannot boast of a single major winner's trophy.

And ABD was not wrong -- with the team that RCB boasted of, many believed it would be their best chance to get their hands on the much coveted IPL crown. With Kohli in the form of his life and the Bangalore batting line-up arguably the best in this year's IPL, what more could they have asked for?

And yet, they fell short. Kohli and ABD would remain the tragic heroes for one more year at least as they had to go back empty-handed. What went wrong for the stellar Bangalore outfit?

A bowling disaster

The Chinnaswamy pitch has yielded thousands of runs this season as it has traditionally been a batting paradise. Yet, the Sunrisers Hyderabad were able to score more than the average on the ground -- with a total of 208 in the grand final, it can be said that the SRH batted RCB out of the contest.

David Warner has to be credited for transforming a paltry batting outfit into an extraordinary force. With over 800 runs in this season of the IPL, Warner seemed to be carrying his team on his shoulders single-handedly with his brilliant batting and captaincy skills.

The RCB bowlers had found some momentum in the dying stages of the tournament leading up to the final and were hoping to stifle Warner up front. Warner instead steamrolled them into submission and got his team off to a flyer amidst palpable unease.

The whole stadium seemed to be stunned into silence as Warner launched a deadly onslaught sparring none of the RCB bowlers. If his 69 off 38 balls set the tone, it was Ben Cutting's blitzkrieg at the end that sealed RCB's fate.

Watson who has been so reliable in this season was plundered as his last over cost 24 runs. That decisively swung the pendulum in the favour of the SRH.

Failure of the middle order

Yet all hope was not lost as Chris Gayle got RCB off to a fairy tale start. Gayle who has been in woeful form in this year's IPL chose the right time to fire as he went into the chase all guns blazing. As the Hyderabad bowlers kept on disappearing, there was renewed hope that the impossible would perhaps be achieved.

Gayle had almost single-handedly taken the RCB to 100 runs off 9 overs -- a platform from which sensible cricket would have taken them over the line. When he got out to 76 off 38 balls, the famed duo of Kohli and De Villiers took over. There was nothing to worry about for the RCB fans.

Yet, when Kohli departed, it sparked a mini collapse as the pressure of chasing in an all-important final became evident. De Villiers perished to a needless heave and KL Rahul could not replicate the form he has been in throughout the season.

Even then, with 47 needed off 4 overs and Shane Watson at the crease, it seemed to be a doable feat for the Bangalore boys. But they had to contend with an attack that boasted of the best death-bowling credentials.

Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were, as always, on the mark, executing their yorkers to absolute perfection. The relatively inexperienced RCB lower order struggled in the end as they were left with the humungous task of negotiating with inch-perfect yorkers.

As wickets kept tumbling, it seemed to be as good as over for Kohli's men. The passionate celebration by Warner, in the end, showed how much the victory meant to him. He had carried the entire team on his shoulders.

Strange decision-making

Binny had one great moment in the IPL when he pulled off a spectacular catch

In retrospect, RCB can thank themselves for making it to the final in a season where they looked down and out at one stage. It was their batters who resurrected their season for them and Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers batted out of their skins to take them to the final.

The Bangalore management should understand the grave mistake they have committed in not investing in more quality fast bowlers who can win them matches. Watson has been in great form with the ball and Chahal has had the season of his life so far. But in the absence of Mitchell Starc, a quality fast bowler was the need of the hour.

RCB will now appreciate perhaps that tournaments cannot be won solely based on the batting depth and it is as important to invest in quality death bowlers. The reason why SRH triumphed in the end was because they had arguably the best bowling attacking the tournament.

There was also some strange team decisions made by the RCB like dropping Sarfaraz Khan for the better part of the tournament. Sarfaraz had been the find of the season in last year's IPL and has been in glorious form for India A in past one year

Kohli justified the decision earlier citing Sarfaraz's lack of fitness and arguing the inclusion of Sachin Baby gave them greater balance in the team. Sarfaraz's inclusion, with all his ability for innovation, could have well made the difference against the death-bowling of Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur in the last four overs.

The decision to keep playing Stuart Binny was also strange as he made very few contributions to the cause of the team. Playing as a specialist all-rounder, Binny bowled 17 overs in the tournament giving away 134 runs and picking up just one wicket.

His form was just as bad as he managed a total of 63 runs from 14 matches at an average of 21. The inclusion of Sarfaraz Khan or even a specialist bowler in his place for the final could have been a much better choice.

In retrospect, the RCB should be happy with what they have achieved this season though they will be terribly disappointed to have not won the trophy. With the batting they have, a bit more of wise spending at the auction next year and investing more on specialist bowlers could well make them invincible.