IPL 2020: Virat Kohli didn't quite match the high standards that he has set, says Sunil Gavaskar on RCB's season

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that although Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli has scored more than 450 runs this IPL, he has been far from his best. This season, Kohli mostly batted at No.3 but was not fluent enough in his stroke-making. He struggled at times on the two-paced wickets in the UAE and wasn't able to time the ball as well as he would have liked to.

Gavaskar is of the opinion that the 32-year-old not being at his best this season is one of the main reasons RCB failed to win the title, despite looking like strong contenders. The veteran opener also feels that RCB's bowling lacked the teeth to trouble the opposition batsmen.

“Looking at the high standards that he sets for himself, maybe he would say he didn’t quite match that and that’s one of the reasons why RCB weren’t able to go through. Because when he scores those big runs along with AB de Villiers, they invariably have big scores," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“If anything, their bowling has always been their weak point. Even now, in this particular team, they have got an Aaron Finch, who is a fine T20 player, young Devdutt Padikkal, who began well and then Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, then you have really got it made,” he further added.

Sunil Gavaskar backs Shivam Dube to succeed as a finisher for RCB

Sunil Gavaskar believes that giving Dube the finisher's role will give him clarity in his thought process.

RCB's batting has been too dependent on the top four of Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Kohli and AB de Villiers. After that, the likes of Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, etc. have just not been able to deliver consistently.

Gavaskar stressed that Dube had been unsettled with the constant change in his batting position. The former India opener believes that the southpaw needs to be moulded into a finisher and he is confident that Dube would succeed in the role for RCB.

“I think where they need to do a little bit of thinking is to give Shivam Dube a proper role. Dube has gone down and Sundar has gone up and down. If he can be given a role and told to go out there and thrash the ball, it might help him. He is confused now. If they can get a solid player at No. 5, then it will ease the pressure of de Villiers and Virat,” Sunil Gavaskar said.

With the IPL 2021 season not too far away, the RCB franchise has a lot of thinking to do in terms of their personnel, and how they use their resources. Whether they succeed at the next time of calling remains to be seen.