Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Vying for their maiden IPL trophy, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have landed in a tricky spot after suffering three defeats on the trot. The Virat Kohli-led side, at one point, was on the verge of booking playoffs berth with ease. However, it has all come down to their last must-win league fixture against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Abu Dhabi.
Inconsistent batting performances have dented RCB's trail in recent games. In the clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the trusted RCB duo of Kolhi and AB de Villiers spent time in the middle but failed to get going. In the end, the side managed to post a 145-run total on the board but it wasn't enough. On the back of Ruturaj Gaikwad's unbeaten half-century, CSK hunted down the total with eight deliveries to spare.
In their next game against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI), the Kohli-de Villiers pair had a similar story as both the players were unable to put runs on the scoreboard. While Kohli managed to score 9 off 14, de Villiers gathered 15 from 12 deliveries.
The story repeated in their third consecutive defeat on Saturday against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), where Kohli and de Villiers scored 7 and 24 respectively.
Reacting to their recent shows with the bat, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra feels the failure of Kohli-de Villiers duo will put pressure on the RCB side. The Bangalore franchise, over the past few years, has been heavily dependent on both the stalwarts.
“This game (against SRH) was all about Kohli and AB in my opinion. The RCB batting is not working. Kohli and AB are going to pay a huge price for their own success because they have set the yardstick very high and the two of them are not delivering to the standards they have set for themselves towards the business end of the tournament,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“So if RCB keep losing matches continuously and if these two players don’t score runs regularly, Padikkal, Joshua Philippe, Gurkeerat are all supporting cast. The DNA of this team is all about Kohli and AB de Villiers scoring runs and they are not doing that,” he added.
