IPL 2018: 4 changes that can solve RCB's combination woes

Another season, a new-look team for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) but the similar old woes. Yes, that has been the story of the Virat Kohli-led RCB this season. Kohli expressed his satisfaction with the team’s bowling picks at the auctions earlier this year and went on to declare that his bowling unit will take charge this season. While the good old war horses, Kohli and AB de Villiers have performed exceptionally well with the bat, helped by some occasional support from Quinton de Kock and Mandeep Singh, their bowling unit still remains their Achilles’ heel.

Their batsmen have scored runs while their bowlers have leaked them in plenty, which is evident by the fact that Yuzvendra Chahal has the best economy of 8.05 runs per over among the RCB bowlers. He, along with Umesh Yadav (1 for 23), set the game up for his team against Chennai Super Kings, but they could not get support from other bowlers who conceded 100 runs in the last seven overs as Chennai completed the biggest chase ever at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

RCB are still struggling with some combination conundrums that are affecting the balance of their team. Here, we have come up with four possible changes that can solve the balance woes of Kohli’s team.

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#1 Parthiv Patel to open with Virat

Parthiv Patel can open the innings with Kohli while RCB can field an extra bowler

RCB started their season with Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock as their openers but some poor outings for McCullum led to his ouster from the team. Kohli moved up the order to partner de Kock at the top. But the move still left RCB thin on good pace bowling options at the death.

After his good knock (53 runs off 37 balls) in the last match against Chennai, this can be a little harsh on the South African but considering the balance of the team, Parthiv Patel can get a go-ahead over de Kock. Parthiv can bat aggressively at the top while his inclusion gives RCB a chance to play one more good pace bowling option.

#2 Tim Southee in for Corey Anderson

Nobody will be disappointed more by Anderson's dismal returns than Kohli

It was the inadequacy of proper death bowling option that prompted Kohli to give Corey Anderson a full quota of four overs but the move cost RCB heavily as he gave away a whopping 58 runs in just 3.4 overs. He is also not bringing value to the team with his batting as he has scored 2 off 8 balls against Chennai and 15 off 13 balls against Delhi.

Anderson’s exclusion paves the way for another New Zealander, Tim Southee. He is a prodigious swing bowler and can also be handy at the death. More importantly, he will add canines to the RCB's bowling jaws. His hitting abilities are an added benefit lower down the order.

#3 Chris Woakes in for Colin de Grandhome

Chris Woakes can be a handy option for Kohli in the death

Before being dropped from the team for the clash against CSK, Chris Woakes was RCB’s joint highest wicket-taker alongside Umesh Yadav with his tally of eight wickets from five games. The demerit in his bowling that led to his dropping was that despite picking up wickets, he had gone for over ten runs an over.

It is unfortunate for de Grandhome to be in this situation after getting a solitary game, in which he wasn’t even asked to bowl while getting to bat in a situation where his team needed some berserk hitting. But considering the fact that RCB have conceded more than 70 runs in the last five overs on last four occasions, the swap of Woakes for de Grandhome seems justified.

#4 Manan Vohra at number 4

Manan Vohra can strengthen the RCB middle-order (Pic courtesy - iplt20wiki.in)

If Anderson and de Grandhome are left out of the squad, RCB’s middle order gets a bit thin but they have a good replacement in Manan Vohra to fill in the void. With Kohli-Parthiv at the top and AB de Villiers at no.3, Vohra can combine with Mandeep Singh to give solidity to the middle-order. With an in-form Mandeep, Vohra can be the answer to RCB’s wobbly batting in the middle-order.

Chris Woakes and Washington Sundar can offer able support lower down the order and the hitting capabilities of Southee and Umesh will increase the batting depth of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kohli can continue with Mohammad Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal at no.10 and 11 respectively. They have two days to ponder over these combinations as they will be hosting Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on the 29th of April. KKR have some really good power-hitters and these combinations will come handy for RCB against KKR.