IPL 2019: Four reasons behind another disappointing season for RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore - a franchise that has fielded a star-studded team in every season of the Indian Premier League. If a cricket fan picks an all-time XI for T20s then his first choice opener would be Chris Gayle and his first choice middle order batsman would be AB de Villiers.

To have these two in the line-up along with one of world's finest ever white-ball player in Virat Kohli, RCB should have filled their trophy cabinet. But the silverware has been eluding them since 2008.

Over the years they have had some of best T20 players in Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, Darren Sammy, and Shane Watson in their squad. Yet it is ambiguous to see the way they have performed over the decade. 2019 was expected to be the year of witnessing a change in their fortunes, but they have failed to fulfill the expectations.

Let's look at four reasons why RCB had another disappointing season.

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#1 Trading of Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock was traded to MI

Going into the 2018 season, RCB was a formidable lineup as they had many good buys in the auction. Quinton de Kock at ₹2.8 crore was considered to be a masterstroke given the fact that the southpaw was among the runs in the international arena.

But to the surprise of everyone, de Kock was involved in all-money trade with Mumbai Indians for IPL 2019. Not only is he a good batsman, but also an outstanding wicket-keeper. Being an opener he has scored runs consistently for South Africa. Hence fans were astonished about the decision.

Just like adding insult to injury, de Kock has had his best ever IPL this season scoring over 450 runs, with a few matches to go. His consistency has helped MI qualify for the playoffs despite lack of runs from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.

RCB's long-standing problem has been their inconsistent middle order. Opening with him would have brought Kohli and de Villiers down the order which would have strengthened their middle order.

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#2 Not playing an overseas fast bowler in the starting XI

Steyn made a massive impact in the matches he played

Overseas stars have always been the impact players in every IPL team. To be even more precise, every title-winning team had a foreign fast bowler spearheading the attack and picking a handful of wickets.

The list consists of Sohail Tanvir in 2008, Ryan Harris in 2009, Doug Bollinger in 2010 and 2011, Brett Lee in 2012, Lasith Malinga in 2013, Morne Morkel in 2014, Mitchell McClenaghan in 2015, Mustafizur Rahman in 2016, Mitchell Johnson in 2017, and Lungisani Ngidi in 2018.

Despite this being a well-documented fact, RCB was reluctant to play an overseas pacer in the starting XI. Kohli's men were at the bottom of the points table at the mid-way mark in 2018. It was Tim Southee who resurrected their journey with some match-defining spells. In fact, in the matches that RCB had won, either Southee or Chris Woakes played a decisive part.

Although they had experienced this, Southee was brought into the team after losing the first four games in 2019. RCB managed to notch up a few wins after Dale Steyn was roped into the team.

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#3 Persistent team changes

Contrasting batting positions and under-bowling Ali raised many questions

Successful teams in the IPL have always maintained consistency not only in their performances but also in their playing XI. But Virat Kohli's style of captaincy has been making changes in every game. The tactic has worked for India's test team but it has backfired RCB in many ways.

In the first three games, Parthiv Patel had three different opening partners in Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali and, Shimron Hetmyer. As roles kept changing, it was difficult for the players to settle into the team and focus on their roles. RCB losing six on the trot meant that the team management made changes desperately to get back to winning ways.

There were many changes in which cricketing logic was hard to find. One such move was the demotion of Ali from No. 4 to No. 6 after he scored a brilliant 28-ball 66 in the previous encounter. It may be seen as a one-off move, but such decisions have dented the chances of the team.

#4 Bizarre team building strategy

Hetmyer was not given enough chances this season

RCB has been big spenders in the auction. But the logic behind some of the selections raised many questions. The hiring of Marcus Stoinis was seen as one such move as RCB already had two quality all-rounders in Colin de Grandhomme and Moeen Ali.

With him projected as the team's primary all-rounder, the management had to adopt a different strategy before his arrival and after his departure. Even in the matches he played, the bowler in him was underutilized. Out of the potential 40 overs, Stoinis bowled about 16 overs only.

2019 auctions saw them spend big bucks on West Indian Shimron Hetmyer and young sensation Shivam Dube. But they were dropped after a few failures. While Dube played four matches, highly-talented Hetmyer was given five matches only. He showed his class in the last league game scoring a 47-ball 75. Things could have been different had he played more matches.

The lack of proper backing from team management has affected the performance of players. It is evident when these players go to other franchises, they have better accomplishments. Sarfaraz Khan, Shane Watson, and KL Rahul are such examples in recent years.