Although the twelfth season of the Indian Premier League has quite some time to come but its fans and the franchises are certainly feeling the heat now . With the opening of the IPL trade window , the speculations of the next champion has begun but RCB management seem to have no interest in it as they are calling upon their own doom . Their activities during the trade window suggests a clear path to their own destruction . Now we discussing some key elements of their plan of destruction .
WHERE IS THE CORE ?
While other franchises used this trade window to rectify their mistakes in the previous auction , RCB took it as an opportunity to commit more of them . They let go their pivotal players and traded others for less relevant ones . Now they stand with no core players from whom they can expect inspiring performance , except Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers . This will bring a lot of responsibility on their shoulders with none to share with . Even AB cannot be depended on , as being away from international cricket could have made him rusty . This leaves the skipper with too many responsibilities to handle including the captaincy .
WEAK MIDDLE ORDER
RCB has been a formidable batting side from the first season , with the top order scoring most of the runs . Although middle order had some big names but they seldom delivered up to their mark but this season the middle order is next to non existent . Trading a dependable middle order batsman like Mandeep Singh just added to their woes .They traded him for the Aussie all rounder Marcus Stoinis . This was a miscalculated move on RCB's part as they already have Foreign all rounders like Moeen Ali and Colin de Grandhomme . Again there is a lot uncertainty about the World Cup bound Australians playing this season .
NO BACKUPS !
Before the trade window , RCB had a pool of keeper batsmen who can open but they simply let go of two of the world's most decorated keeper batsmen , de Kock and McCullum . Now they are left with only Parthiv Patel .
Although he is a dependable batsman but he would never be a first choice for any franchises' starting XI . Trading de Kock is the biggest blunder that RCB management would ever commit . They not only lost a keeper but also lost a formidable opener . Would they ever get a keeper batsman of his caliber for such aminimal price ? Any person with the least understanding of the game would agree but not RCB's management . They gifted the Mumbai Indians the only thing they have longed for : an experienced keeper . Agreed , that he did not perform well in the previous season but a player of his standard is always a knock or two away from finding his form and once set in his tone , he can turn matches single handedly for his side . According to the initial reports , IPL might be shifted to UAE or South Africa and we know how dangerous the Proteas are in their backward . Having said so , trading de Kock is surely an unjustifiable decision .
DEATH BOWLING
In the previous few seasons , RCB has had the worst economy rate in the death overs and its only reason is lack of quality pacers in the team . Umesh might be in form but his injuries follow him everywhere and no one can say when it might strike . Moreover he is not your go to guy in the death overs . He is best bowling with new ball . RCB's effort to solve it using all rounders failed miserably as they were hit all round the park in the death last season . They even tried young Indian quicks like Mohammed Siraj but pressure had the better of him . As the situation stands now RCB is in dire need of some quality Indian pacers who could handle the pressure of the death overs as they cannot afford many foreign players in the team .
WHAT CAN BE DONE
RCB does not have much to do but just hope that would be as generous as they were while gifting de Kock to the Mumbai Indians and let them pick the players they want . With a purse of just 18.15 crores left they cannot afford a tussle with other franchises . Their quest for a dependable middle batsman would be a tough one as there won’t be many of them under the hammer. Adding to their woes would be there need for an opener and at least a pair of quality Indian death bowlers . With so many holes to fill and such modest purse , this auction would be nothing less than fighting a lion with bare hands for RCB .
We certainly wish that in this IPL, RCB’s show it’s best form that we are all waiting for from many seasons.
