RCB Playing XI for IPL 2024 features a very strong batting lineup, but their bowling attack looks equally weak.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had a lucid vision in the IPL 2024 auction – fill most of the remaining slots with bowlers, especially pacers. Before the auction, they let the H-H-H trio of Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga go and needed a revamp in the bowling department. Consequently, RCB bought five bowling options out of the six players they picked in the auction.
While they have filled the available slots with the type of players required, RCB failed to buy the best in those departments despite having a reasonable budget to spend. For example, Kartik Tyagi would have been a perfect pick at a much lower price than Yash Dayal. He could have acted as an enforcer and bowled in the middle and occasionally at the death.
Similarly, Gerald Coetzee fetched half the sum than Alzarri Joseph and could have been a better bowler for all the phases. Obviously, the Faf du Plessis-led side had the arduous task of forming a formidable bowling unit with a limited purse, but they had better options at the same or even lower price.
The Bangalore-based franchise probably didn’t get the required players in the auction. They needed a couple of solid bowlers, one Indian and an overseas, with others revolving around them. Eventually, RCB had to settle with lower-quality options in both categories and might face the same problem in the upcoming season.
RCB squad for IPL 2024: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green.
Faf du Plessis* (c)
Virat Kohli
Rajat Patidar
Glenn Maxwell*
Cameron Green*
Mahipal Lomror
Dinesh Karthik (wk)
Suyash Prabhudessai
Reece Topley*
Karn Sharma
Mohammed Siraj
Yash Dayal (IMP)
Wicketkeeper: Royal Challengers Bangalore have two primary wicketkeepers – Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat. They will likely start with Karthik because he is better suited for the lower middle order. RCB Squad IPL 2024 already have plenty of top-order batters, and Anuj’s best will only come while batting in the top three.
Karthik’s low expertise to counter spin, or even save himself, makes him vulnerable in the top five. His preferred role is pace-hitting when the entry point is 14th over or below. Karthik has also done the finishing role successfully for RCB previously.
While his lack of top-quality match practice might be an issue, Karthik is still RCB’s best bet. His last season’s form will definitely be a concern, for he looked rusty and incompetent for most of the tournament. The 38-year-old blew hot and cold in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year.
Overseas Players: The four foreigners in the RCB playing XI IPL 2024 should be Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green and Reece Topley. Faf is the RCB captain for IPL 2024 and will open the innings. He had a career-best IPL season in 2023 and will have to do a similar role at the top.
Faf should take the attacking route in the powerplay, with Virat Kohli sticking around, and take down the pacers. He had issues against leg-spinners last year, and with Virat’s weaker suit also being spin, Faf will have to be prudent with his attacking. Ideally, one of them should step a position below to accommodate Cameron Green at the top, but this move will shift Glenn Maxwell low, and RCB won’t follow it.
Your take on RCB’s squad after the 2024 IPL auction; any notable picks?#Royalchallengersbangalore pic.twitter.com/Fw9DT2eVpG
— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) December 19, 2023
Glenn Maxwell’s batting position will be crucial, and RCB should shuffle his position based on the current bowling attack. His primary role should be to take down the spinners in middle overs since the openers won’t be able to do it as regularly. Maxwell has strike rate issues against pace, but RCB are designed well to utilise his supreme expertise against the tweakers, given they nail his entry point precisely.
Cameron Green is an intriguing trade by Royal Challengers Bangalore, for his best position is in the top three, which is jam-packed. He might bat at No.5 and face spin and pace equally. The solace is that Green’s spin game has improved and won’t be a liability, especially on flat tracks.
Also Read: KKR Playing XI for IPL 2024: Captain, wicket-keeper, overseas players, Impact Players and More
RCB shouldn’t slot him in the top order to disrupt the position of other batters. Last year, Green’s best came at No.3, but he should be fine at No.5, for Maxwell and Patidar will take down his major negative matchup, leg-spin. His bowling will also be handy, especially away from home.
Reece Topley should be RCB’s primary overseas pacer, as he operates well in all the phases and provides a left-arm angle. His opening partnership with Mohammed Siraj will sort RCB’s powerplay bowling, while Topley will also be a better value than Alzarri Joseph or Tom Curran in the death overs. Topley has a deceiving cutter which dips and sticks well into the surface, and while he lacks control over his yorkers, his shorter ones will be handy from a high release.
Alzarri Joseph might be better in the middle overs, especially with two bouncers in an over, but he lacks control to bowl in Chinnaswamy. As visible in the previous IPL season, his pacy ones didn’t really trouble the batters as consistently, with several being off-target, meaning he can’t be an enforcer in home games for RCB. Topley’s off-pace deliveries are more lethal than Joseph’s because it’s easier for the batters to get under the latter’s slower ones to thwack them.
Tom Curran has also improved massively over the last year and has more command over his yorkers than ever. But he isn’t a reliable option or a specialist in any other phase. In Topley, RCB at least get a solid powerplay bowler with decent control in the slog.
Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket, RCB talks about Alzarri Joseph’s addition#RCB pic.twitter.com/4EXThKtw04
— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) December 19, 2023
Impact Players: Yash Dayal will be the impact player apart from the RCB Playing XI. Dayal will bowl the remaining powerplay overs after Topley and Siraj and then in the middle overs. While his economy rate was high, the left-arm pacer can also be tried for one over in the slog, especially in the away games. Dayal’s cutters will be handy in every phase on the slower tracks.
Dayal will have to form a solid partnership with other bowlers in the middle for RCB to use Siraj and Topley in the first six and then in the last four. A lot will depend on how his bowling performances are. RCB can also bowl more overs of Yash Dayal in the powerplay to attack Topley in the middle and death, but Topley’s best value is in the powerplay.
Mayank Dagar is another option for RCB as an impact player. Dagar can come in on the tracks like Chepauk, where the new-ball value for the pacers is minimal. The teams with plenty of RHBs can also succumb to Dagar.
He is very accurate against the RHBs. There will be a direct swap between Dayal and Dagar for the impact player rule. The tracks of Kolkata, Jaipur and Chennai are likely to be slow, and Dagar can be lethal on such decks.
Hits:
Royal Challengers Bangalore have among the most consistent opening pairs for IPL 2024.
RCB have spin hitters Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar for the middle overs.
RCB have experience and seasoned campaigners in the batting order.
RCB have solid powerplay bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley and Yash Dayal.
RCB have tried to find backups like Tom Curran and Lockie Ferguson for Reece Topley and Alzarri Joseph, while Will Jacks can replace one of Faf du Plessis or Glenn Maxwell at the top in case of any injury.
Misses:
Royal Challengers Bangalore have a one-dimensional batting attack, for their top five are likely to have all the RHBs.
RCB are short of proven finishers in the lower order. Barring Dinesh Karthik, who is also ageing and unreliable, the others don’t have enough experience at this level.
The spin attack looks bleak, with Karn Sharma being the lead spinner.
Royal Challengers Bangalore lack genuine death-over options, especially in the overseas category.
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