IPL 2023 | Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis has opened up on his team's performance in the IPL 2023. RCB suffered a disappointing loss against Gujarat Titans in the 70th match of IPL 2023. They were among three teams with a chance to qualify for the final spot of the IPL Playoffs on the final league stage day on Sunday. Even though they had the best chance to finish in the top four, the Challengers conceded their advantage and finished in sixth place, letting Mumbai Indians take the final playoff place in 4th.
However, after the defeat, the RCB skipper has shed light on his team's campaign in the 16th edition of the Indian cash-rich league. The Proteas star has stated that they were not one of the best teams in the competition and did not deserve to be in the playoffs. "I am so disappointed that our season ends there. If we take a hard look at ourselves, we'll be honest in saying that we weren't one of the best teams in the competition," Faf du Plessis said in a video posted by RCB on Monday.
The skipper added, "We were lucky that there were some really good performances throughout the season but, as a whole (and) as a team, we probably don't deserve to be in the semifinal, if you look at the period of 15-14 games."
Despite the loss, RCB had some big highlights from the season, starting with du Plessis and Virat Kohli's partnerships. Glenn Maxwell's power-hitting added to their arsenal and Mohammed Siraj was right on the money with the ball, especially in the powerplay. Du Plessis also spoke about the positives from the season.
"It (defeat) still hurts. I mean, we tried really hard tonight (Sunday) and unfortunately just fell short. Looking at some real positives in the form of Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) this year, and the partnerships we had between myself and Virat (Kohli). A 50-run partnership in probably every game, the consistency was remarkable. (Mohammed) Siraj had a great campaign, so some really, really high positives and some areas in the game where we were consistently not great, I think," added Faf.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Bangar was also disappointed with the result. "It is indeed very disappointing because there were some outstanding performances.
We had to finish a couple of close games but couldn't. We found ourselves in a very tight corner towards the end but (it) doesn't take away anything from the guys who performed," Bangar said.
