RCB: 16 Seasons and Counting

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has been in the IPL since its inception but has never won the title. Its reasons are still a mystery to the average cricket audience.

Introduction

Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most watched T20 league in the world. When Lalit Modi had envisioned the idea, no one could have imagined the financial behemoth it would become, and pave the way for BCCI and Indian cricket to become the de-facto dominant force in world cricket. The role of IPL in world cricket is reserved for a different article though. The interest of this write up is to try to de-mystify why RCB, one of the most popular teams, is the worst performing franchise since IPL’s inception (ouch, sorry RCB fans). 

RCB, along with Delhi Capitals (formerly Daredevils), Kings XI Punjab and Lucknow Supergiants have shot a blank when it comes to winning the IPL. But why has RCB always been under the microscope?

In my opinion, achievements of a team should be normalized by the sporting talent at its disposal. Manchester United in the post Sir Alex-era is often criticized on its winning output given the player investment made. I don’t entirely agree with the way those numbers are thrown around but do acknowledge the validity of the claim. Likewise, given RCB has been built around a generational star, Virat Kohli, whose reach transcends sports, its success, or lack thereof, ought to be judged relatively. When you complement that with two other international stalwarts, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle, RCB has massively underachieved and how. Delhi and Punjab have lacked similar calibre of talent, and Lucknow has barely been around.

Before diving deeper, we should acknowledge that sports, like life, is a combination of planning, hard work, execution and some luck. Case in point — what if Dhoni was 2 mm on the other side of the batting crease in the semi final against New Zealand in 2019? Who’s to say India may have progressed and even won the World Cup. Such fine margins is what makes sports joyful and excruciating to watch. So, while the below mentioned reasons can be held accountable for RCB’s failures, this article may have been titled differently if lady luck had been more kind to them in crucial moments.

Squad Building

One of the major reasons for RCB’s poor track record is the management’s inability to build the right squad. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this, which is why getting it right is easier said than done. But how can a franchise not get it right even once across 16 attempts? Same goes for Punjab. However, Delhi did figure it out once when Jindal Steel Works (JSW) took over from the GMR Group as the primary stakeholders.

Usually, one would see franchises fail, course correct, bear its fruits till the squad is forced to disintegrate, and then start again from scratch. Mumbai Indians is a prime example. But if a franchise is never able to course correct, then it points to a deeper issue.

Top Heavy Batting

Historically, RCB has had a top heavy and lop sided batting lineup, which has been pointed out by many cricketing pundits, ex-players and academic fans as well. It was dominated by the famous triplet of Kohli-ABD-Gayle, but the pattern has persisted with Kohli-Du Plessis-Maxwell and so on. It’s a preference and not a coincidence.

There is data to prove that successful T20 teams tend to have a very strong top order, and rightly so since they will be consuming the most balls on an average. The analysis doesn’t say that a very strong top order implies a winning team. Moreover, the mainstays of any batting lineup need an able support cast. But for reasons unknown, RCB’s management has never found those. They have usually paired stalwarts like Kohli, ABD with uncapped and inexperienced batsmen. The disparity in calibre is so large that the onus of getting the team over the finish line ultimately rests with the best batsmen.

There could be a season every now and then where the mainstays consistently fire, do bulk of the scoring and potentially lead the team to a title. 2016 was one such year. Kohli amassed 973 runs at an average of 81 and strike rate of 152. The highest in the history of IPL. This was complemented by his good friend, AB De Villiers, scoring 687 at an average of 53 and strike rate of 169. They came second in the league stage and lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final by 8 runs. But one cannot expect to sustain such high individual levels This was evidenced by their performance in the following season (2017) where they finished at the bottom. Even in 2016, they had a young upcoming Indian talent at no.4, KL Rahul, who did complement in whatever capacity he could.

Lack of Indian Core

IPL has taught us over the years that all successful teams tend to have a very strong and settled Indian core. CSK, MI, KKR all had it. RR in 2008 was an anomaly since it was the first season. But they have learnt their lesson since, and now have a squad littered with upcoming Indian talent like Yashashvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel coupled with experienced Indian internationals like Ravi Ashwin and Yuzi Chahal.

A franchise needs a settled core to build multiple squads spanning a lifecycle of 4 to 5 years. MI’s tenure under Rohit Sharma had the best core — Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya brothers and Bumrah. And adding T20 stalwarts like Pollard and Malinga gives you the recipe to create one of the most scary T20 franchise teams ever.

CSK built their first dynasty around Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin and then internationals like Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan while their current generation is being modeled around Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Ajinkya Rahane.

Nonetheless, IPL having a mega auction every 3 years makes it difficult to hold onto the complete core. And thats the beauty of IPL. Inspired from American franchise systems, it forces teams to re-build cyclically. As long as key players of the core are retained, this constraint can be handled just fine.

Keeping Pace with T20 Trends

T20 is a fast growing phenomena. It forces all players, batsmen, bowlers, fielders and wicketkeepers to re-invent themselves from time to time. With so many matches played every year across the globe, one can observe a lot of trends, some persisting for multiple years while some fading away in a giffy. To naked eye, RCB is never seen abreast with such trends. For instance, in the previous mega auction in 2022, RCB failed to re-buy Yuzi Chahal, but more importantly did not buy an established leg spinner. No disrespect to Karn Sharma or Wanindu Hasarange. Over the years, leg-spinners have become potent wicket taking weapons, and RCB have failed to recognize that.

Another such trend is packing a team with all rounders. They provide flexibility in the batting order, and more importantly, provide ample bowling options which is a plus for the captains. CSK has historically done this the best with Dywane Bravo, Albie Morkel, Shane Watson, Chris Morris, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitch Santner, Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali amongst others (not all played together). RCB hasn’t believed in this philosophy often.

There are many such trends that the RCB’s think tank either fail to recognize in time or just ignore, and with a format like T20 where fine margins matter massively, these nuances do make a difference.

Instability

RCB has what I like to call “The Manchester United syndrome”. They’re one of the most passionately followed franchises with fickle minded and frankly inept managements. This makes every loss a crisis leading to frequent changes and unnecessary overhauls to the playing XI, squad and coaching staff. This instability can have direct and indirect effects on the pitch. Stability is key to let players perform to the best of their ability. This can be solved by having a focused and strong minded management.

No home advantage

IPL teams play home and away games in equal counts. And the most successful teams plan to maximize their home advantage. CSK is the primary example. Their entire dynasty is built around optimizing their player acquisitions to fit Chepauk’s slow and turning pitches. This shouldn’t be a deal breaker but when the home ground is M Chinnaswamy where every match is literally a coin toss, given the flat decks and shorter boundaries, not having a proven plan to play there doesn’t help the cause.

Every team has to target 8 wins to stand a chance to qualify. And each team plays 8 games at home. So, if one maximizes for home advantage, and wins more than two-thirds of their games, they’ll be halfway towards the playoffs. But RCB has one of the lowest win% at home — 49% (credit: https://www.mykhel.com/webstories/ipl-teams-win-percentage-in-homes-venues).

To be honest, RCB has been dealt a bad hand with M Chinnaswamy. They need to let go of the dependence on top order and try to build a batting lineup whose contribution spread is more even across the team. More important is the need to view bowlers as weapons in the arsenal and not a liability with large economy rates. They ought to maximize their wicket taking ability throughout the innings — new ball, spin and death overs. With the rise of Mohammed Siraj, they have picked up early wickets regularly but letting go of Chahal along with never nailing down on good death bowlers has meant inability to contain oppositions even with large runs on the board.

King Kohli

This brings us to our last, and definitely an unpopular, point. There is no doubt Kohli is the best batsman across formats in his generation. There is no disputing his status as one of the legends of IPL. But his presence can be likened to Sachin’s in the Indian teams of late 90s and early 2000s. Their presence while a boon can also be a bane. The team can either get over reliant on them to get them over the line, which is unsustainable, or get bogged down under their aura. RCB has experienced both with King Kohli.

Harsha Bhogle had pointed this out couple of seasons ago — Kohli bats in the top 2 for RCB, and by that virtue, and because of his batting prowess, will play a lot of RCB’s overs, say 40-50 balls on an average. The management has always instructed him to play through the innings due to a lack of trustable middle order. So, 50 balls in many games at a career strike rate of 130 means about 65 runs off 9 overs. If rest of the batting order even scores at 10/over for the rest 11 overs, that still takes them to 175 which at best is a par score on most tracks in India. And his intention of burdening the major batting responsibilities doesn’t help, since it doesn’t permit other players around him to play freely and grow as batsn.

It may be in the interest of the team for him to lessen his responsibilities and even alter his game to suit the current trends.

Ee Saala Cup Namade?

If RCB wants to alter its fortunes, it needs to take a deep wide look at the aforementioned aspects. It should aim to build a balanced squad with a strong, young Indian core. Reduce reliance on King Kohli, be less reactionary to results and fan reactions and focus on the multi-year squad building process and try optimizing the composition to win more matches at M Chinnaswamy.

To all RCB and King Kohli fans, trust the process. The whole of India wants him to win his maiden IPL title, but even Batman needs a strong support cast of Robin, Cat Woman and Commissioner Gordon to succeed. Hang in there, keep supporting and I’m sure one day you would be able to say — Ee saala cup namdu!