Michael Clarke not blaming Kohli; says RCB's decisions were hard to understand in their loss against Rajasthan Royals

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has backed Virat Kohli despite Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s embarrassing defeat against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024. The former RCB captain smashed his eighth century of the tournament as the other batters of the team struggled to put runs on the board.    

Despite the cricketer’s best efforts, Royal Challengers Bengaluru failed to defend their 184 run target against Rajasthan as the hosts won the match in 19.1 overs. The Royals opening batter Jos Buttler played a magnificent knock and scored 100 runs with a strike rate of 172.41. 

Clarke recently questioned the ambiguous strategies made by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team management that are not working in the odds of the team since they have lost three consecutive matches in the tournament. 

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Michael Clarke suggests Promoting Dinesh Karthik in RCB Batting Order 

In a recent interview after Rajasthan Royals clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Michael Clarke emphasized on not pointing fingers at Virat Kohli considering he performed the perfect role that has been assigned to him by the team and even scored a century. 

“I wouldn't point my fingers at Virat Kohli. He was brilliant and I think he played the exact role he needed to play because the batters around him are not scoring enough runs, not playing with enough confidence or enough freedom,” Clarke said on Star Sports. 

The Australian cricketer elaborated on RCB’s decision of not playing Dinesh Karthik earlier despite him being a perfect finisher for the team. He added,  

“I think RCB left 15 runs on the ground. A few of their decisions were hard to understand. You have got Karthik as a finisher; I don’t know why he did not come in probably after Maxwell. He certainly should have come in before Green. That was an interesting decision.” 

Despite wearing the orange cap in the 17th season of the Indian Premier league, Virat Kohli could not take Royal Challengers Bengaluru towards the finishing line as Rajasthan Royals won their fourth consecutive match to grab the spot of the table toppers. 

RCB’s chances of qualifying for The play-offs now seems bleak considering the team has to secure a win in a minimum of six matches out of the nine league games left in the IPL 2024 season.