IPL 2018: 3 players responsible for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s failure

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL season is done and dusted. Defeat against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday has ended their late surge for a playoff place and sealed their fate.

They have struggled a lot this season and won only six out of their 14 league games. One reason for their failure is the team selection in the 2018 auction. They failed to buy a recognized domestic batsman to support Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Also, their bowling attack did not have a death over specialist and they conceded a lot of runs late in the innings. Apart from Umesh Yadav and Chahal, all the other RCB’s bowlers were inconsistent.

On that note, let’s take a look at the players who attributed to their downfall this season.

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#1 Chris Woakes

Woakes (right) struggled for consistency this season

The English all-rounder had an exceptional 2017 IPL campaign. Chris Woakes picked up 17 wickets last season at an economy rate of 8.77.

He was RCB’s most expensive signing in the 2018 auction. Bought for a whopping Rs 7.4 crores, the 29-year-old came into the RCB squad to lead their bowling attack.

However, he failed to deliver goods for his new franchise and was nowhere to be seen after the first half of the campaign.

In five appearances this season, Woakes has picked up a total of eight wickets. He leaked a lot of runs and went for an economy rate of 10.36.

He was poor in the death overs and allowed batsmen to dominate his bowling. After a string of disappointing bowling performances, he was replaced by Tim Southee in the playing XI.

#2 Brendon McCullum

McCullum failed to impress this season

McCullum is one of the most successful overseas batsmen in the history of IPL. Bangalore bought him for Rs 3.6 crores in the 2018 auction.

The Kiwi opening batsman has played in all the 10 editions of the tournament before 2018 and has scored 2881 runs in 109 games at an average of 28.

However, 2018 turned out to be one of his worst IPL seasons ever. McCullum has played six games this season and scored 127 runs at an average of 21. He could not make a single match-winning contribution this season.

Though he had few good starts, he failed to convert them into big scores. He struggled to adapt to Indian conditions and was rightly dropped from the team after a series of poor scores.

#3 Washington Sundar

Sundar flopped on the big stage

A lot was expected from Washington Sundar after his scintillating performances in the Nidahas T20 trophy just weeks before the start of IPL 2018.

Royal Challengers Bangalore paid Rs 3.2 crores for his signature in the 2018 auction.

However, Sundar failed to produce goods in IPL this season. He picked up only four wickets in seven games at a poor economy rate of 9.60.

Also, his exploits with the bat weren’t great either as he scored only 65 runs this season.

He was bought for his all-round abilities but his failure has left a big hole in Royal Challengers Bangalore lineup. Though Moeen Ali steeped in late in the competition, it was never enough for Bangalore.

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