“Once upon a time, there was a cricketer who was considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all team. He had everything – The World Cup, The Champions Trophy, The Asia Cup – everything. However, what he missed out on was winning a comparatively easier tournament, the Indian Premier League.”
If the Royal Challengers Bangalore keep playing the way they have been since the inception of the IPL, we might see such lines written about Virat Kohli, probably half a century from now. Yesterday, RCB not only lost a must-win match to the then-lowest placed team in the points table but also lost it by a huge margin.
They fell like nine pins while batting first to set a meagre target of 134 for the hosts, and their bowling got throttled by Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch as they chased the target in just 13.5 overs. That means that they could maintain a run rate of 10 throughout the innings.
Every year, RCB build a strong team that looks sensational on paper. However, they are just not good enough to get actual results on the field. Last year, they came close to winning the trophy when they reached the final for the third time.
However, like the previous two times, they just couldn’t get over the line and let the David Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad bully them to snatch that coveted trophy away.
Their playoff chances are now almost gone but they can still savage some pride by winning the rest of their encounters in some style. GL, on the other hand, have given themselves a shot at the playoffs by winning an away game in a gargantuan way, thereby increasing their NRR as well.
Let us look at the top run scorers and wicket takers after the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions match -
Leading run scorers –
| Position | Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Highest |
| 1 | Suresh Raina (GL) | 8 | 8 | 309 | 61.8 | 141.74 | 0 | 2 | 84 |
| 2 | Gautam Gambhir (KKR) | 8 | 8 | 305 | 50.83 | 136.77 | 0 | 3 | 76* |
| 3 | Hashim Amla (KXIP) | 7 | 7 | 299 | 59.8 | 145.85 | 1 | 2 | 104* |
| 4 | David Warner (SRH) | 7 | 7 | 282 | 56.4 | 129.36 | 0 | 2 | 76* |
| 5 | Steve Smith (RPS) | 7 | 7 | 275 | 55 | 135.47 | 0 | 2 | 84* |
| 6 | Robin Uthappa (KKR) | 8 | 7 | 272 | 38.86 | 165.85 | 0 | 3 | 87 |
| 7 | Brendon McCullum (SRH) | 8 | 8 | 267 | 33.38 | 145.9 | 0 | 2 | 72 |
| 8 | Nitish Rana (MI) | 8 | 8 | 266 | 38 | 135.03 | 0 | 3 | 62* |
| 9 | Manish Pandey (KKR) | 8 | 7 | 260 | 86.67 | 141.3 | 0 | 2 | 81* |
| 10 | Shikhar Dhawan (SRH) | 7 | 7 | 235 | 33.57 | 118.09 | 0 | 1 | 70 |
Leading wicket takers –
| Position | Player | Matches | Wickets | Overs | Runs | 5 Wickets | Economy | Best Figures |
| 1 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 7 | 16 | 28 | 176 | 1 | 6.29 | 5 for 19 |
| 2 | Chris Morris (DD) | 6 | 12 | 22 | 152 | 0 | 6.91 | 4 for 26 |
| 3 | Andrew Tye (GL) | 5 | 12 | 20 | 132 | 1 | 6.6 | 5 for 17 |
| 4 | Mitchell McClenaghan (MI) | 8 | 12 | 32 | 279 | 0 | 8.72 | 3 for 24 |
| 5 | Chris Woakes (KKR) | 8 | 10 | 25 | 243 | 0 | 9.72 | 3 for 6 |
| 6 | Yuzvendra Chahal (RCB) | 8 | 10 | 26.3 | 188 | 0 | 7.09 | 3 for 16 |
| 7 | Imran Tahir (RPS) | 8 | 10 | 31 | 264 | 0 | 8.52 | 3 for 28 |
| 8 | Rashid Khan (SRH) | 7 | 10 | 28 | 195 | 0 | 6.96 | 3 for 19 |
| 9 | Jasprit Bumrah (MI) | 8 | 9 | 32 | 256 | 0 | 8 | 3 for 24 |
| 10 | Pat Cummins (DD) | 6 | 9 | 23.1 | 172 | 0 | 7.42 | 2 for 20 |
The orange cap table is more or less the same apart from two changes – Raina climbed 4 places after the match to claim the Orange Cap and Brendon McCullum climbed one place to number 7. Since his first match for the Chennai Super Kings, Raina has been an incredible IPL player. He has 300 plus runs in all the ten seasons.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has enjoyed his steady lead of 4 wickets for the Purple Cap for over a couple of weeks now, the second-placed and third-placed bowlers keep changing. Yesterday, they were Mitchell McClenaghan and Chris Morris.
Today, it is Morris along with Andrew Tye, who is enjoying a sensational debut season. He picked 3 wickets again yesterday and has claimed a total of 12 wickets in just 5 matches when most of those around him have played at least 7.
Also Read: RCB vs GL: Andrew Tye's two-wicket over is SK Turning Point of the match
Let’s look at the points table now and see how GL’s win has affected other teams –
| Position | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | No Result | NRR | Points | Last Result | Next Opponent |
| 1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1.153 | 12 | Beat RPS by 7 wickets | DD |
| 2 | Mumbai Indians | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.514 | 12 | Lost to RPS by 3 runs | GL |
| 3 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.481 | 9 | Match washed out against RCB | KXIP |
| 4 | Rising Pune Supergiant | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -0.666 | 8 | Lost to KKR by 6 wickets | RCB |
| 5 | Kings XI Punjab | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | -0.319 | 6 | Beat SRH by 6 wickets | SRH |
| 6 | Gujarat Lions | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -0.36 | 6 | Beat RCB by 7 wickets | MI |
| 7 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | -1.401 | 5 | Lost to GL by 7 wickets | RPS |
| 8 | Delhi Daredevils | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.848 | 4 | Lost to KXIP by 26 runs | KKR |
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