‘It starts with the auction table’ - Former RCB Player sheds light on reasons behind RCB’s forgettable campaign in IPL 2024

Former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch recently reflected on the reasons behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s consistent failed campaigns in the Indian Premier League. After eight league stage matches in IPL 2024, RCB is on the verge of getting knocked out of the play-offs after managing to win only one match in the ongoing season. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru currently stands on the last position of the IPL 2024 points table with only two points and a negative net run rate of 1.046. The team recently lost a close match against Kolkata Knight Riders by a single and still struggles to find the best combination in the Playing XI. 

Aaron Finch Reflects on RCB’s Struggles in IPL 2024 

In a recent interview on Star Sports Press Room, the former Australian captain highlighted that Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s struggles began from the auction where they spent majority of their purse value on batsmen and didn't focus on adding valuable bowlers to their squad. He also discussed that RCB didn’t include a spinner in their squad for IPL 2024 which made it difficult for the team to take wickets in the tournament. 

"I think there have been a couple of reasons, it hasn't gone well, and I think it does start off with the auction table when you put so much emphasis on your batting group and don't leave a huge amount of room for your bowling. The lack of a world-class spinner I guess it's something that was proven in the game against KKR. Sunil Narine is a world-class operator and he's somebody who gets the job done day in and day out. It's just that lack of a spinner there to be relied on consistently," Finch discussed. 

While citing the example of the young Australian all-rounder Cameron Green,  Aaron discussed that Royal Challengers Bengaluru also needs to focus on their strategies to find the best combination and place the players accordingly in their Playing XI. 

"I think they have got some issues with playing players out of position at times, I mean Cameron Green to trade for him for such a big price, for such a big percentage of a salary cap, to then bat him in the middle-order where is not as comfortable as batting at the top is is a real strange move. You're asking a guy to do a job which he is not comfortable with from the start so you're not setting him up for the ultimate success in my opinion," he added. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play their next match of IPL 2024 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi Gandhi international Stadium on April 25.