Royal Challengers Bengaluru's memorable IPL 2024 campaign ended with a big defeat against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday, May 22. RCB fans witnessed an eventful season after making the playoffs against all odds but suffered a sad end in the Eliminator clash in Ahmedabad.
Emotions were high at RCB camp when Rajasthan pulled off an easy four-wicket win at Narendra Modi Stadium. The focus was on Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik with the latter saying goodbye to professional cricket after stellar performance in 2024.
After the defeat, Skipper Faf du Plessis pointed out RCB's unbelievable comeback in the second half of the season but seemed devastated after failing to end the team's title drought in his third season at M Chinnaswamy. The franchise shared an emotional video highlighting the dressing room scenes after the end of the campaign where head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat addressed the camp one last time.
Andy Flower wished everyone good luck for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 and pointed out Virat and Faf's leading the team by example throughout the tournament. Faf also thanked his teammates for a brilliant campaign and support in his three years at the franchise.
"A not so fitting goodbye," RCB said in X post. "The 23 players and the coaching staff got tougher for one last time in the dressing room, to thank each other for the brilliant effort and wish their teammates the best of times ahead."
Meanwhile, despite a not-so-memorable end to their campaign, RCB fans are already comparing the 2024 season to their 2016 campaign where they finished runner-ups. Bengaluru secured the playoff berth ninth time but a defeat in Eliminator proved their record 10th loss in 16 playoff matches.
Virat Kohli finished the season as a leading run-getter in the tournament with 741 runs in 15 innings at an amazing strike rate of 154.69. In bowling, Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal picked 15 wickets each but the likes of Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson struggled to impress.
