Match winners galore, 'King' Kohli's consistency, powerplay bowling magic: RCB's cheat codes in successful league stage

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], May 29 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the ultimate face of loyalty, resilience, patience for its unwavering fan base and a franchise trolled for a dust-collecting trophy cabinet despite presence of some of the sport's biggest superstars, is just few steps away from capturing the Indian Premier League (IPL) glory for the first-time ever.

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RCB and PBKS, two franchises that have not lifted the IPL gold in their entire existence, will be aiming to book a direct spot in the final when they lock horns in the Qualifier one at Mullanpur on Thursday. Even if either of them loses, they will get a shot at redemption when they play either Gujarat Titans (GT) or Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Qualifier two at Ahmedabad. While PBKS have defied expectations and displayed fearlessness under skipper Shreyas Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting, the journey towards the playoffs has been just as brilliant for RCB, led by Rajat Patidar.

-Contributors galore with the bat, free-flowing batters liberate Kohli

For years, RCB has been about Virat Kohli. It still is. Virat getting runs more or less sealed the match for RCB. Superstar culture has dominated the franchise as well, with a trio of Virat, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle taking up the majority of promotional, marketing and on-field space in its 12 years or so. Later, after the departure of AB and Gayle, Virat was joined by another South African, Faf Du Plessis and Australian maverick hitter Glenn Maxwell, who collectively formed the 'KGF'.

The franchise relied on 'King Kohli' for bringing the audience and moolah, while it also needed its foreign cast to assist Virat in on-field duties. However, this season, there have been match-winners galore for RCB. For years, the dismissal of Virat or the team's big-name foreign players sounded the death knell of the team during a match. This has not been the case for RCB this season, as there have been as many as eight 'Player of the Match' award winners this season, the most by a team.

Virat himself, Krunal Pandya, skipper Patidar, Josh Hazlewood, Romario Shepherd, Tim David and Jitesh Sharma have emerged as stars for RCB at different points of the season, with Tim winning his award in a losing cause for powering RCB to a fighting 95/9 with his half-century during a 14-over rain-hit match against Punjab Kings.

For the first time in an IPL season, a team has found ten different half-centurions throughout the season. For RCB, Virat (eight half-centuries), Salt (three half-centuries), Patidar (two half-centuries), Devdutt Padikkal (two half-centuries), Jacob Bethell, Krunal, Liam Livingstone, David, Shepherd and Jitesh (one half-century each) contributed big with the bat whenever the occasion demanded. If one failed to dominate the opposition, the other one would oblige gleefully.

The middle-order, once almost a non-existent entity for RCB, has performed well for the second successive season. Patidar (271 runs in 12 innings at an average of 22.58, strike rate of over 140, with two fifties), Jitesh (237 runs in 10 innings at an average of 39.50, strike rate of over 171, with a half-century), David (187 runs in nine innings at an average of 62.33, strike rate of 185 with a half-century) have often made sure that the momentum created by the top-order did not go wasted. Runs kept flowing, intent was strong, and every stroke was marked by immense self-belief, even if the superstars were back in the hut.

The top order of Virat (602 runs in 13 innings at an average of 60.20, strike rate of over 147, with eight half-centuries), Salt (331 runs in 11 innings at an average of 30.09, strike rate of 171.50, with three half-centuries) and Padikkal (247 runs in 10 innings at an average of 27.44, strike rate of 150.60 with two half-centuries) provided a rock-solid, banging foundation to RCB nearly every time. The absence of Salt and Padikkal in a few matches was filled well by Bethell and Mayank Agarwal.

Perhaps the most significant sign of the franchise moving on from being Kohli-centric with the bat was witnessed during the final league stage match, a must-win game for the team to earn a top-two finish and escape an often-experienced eliminator hell. After Virat perished for 54 at the score of 123 during a chase of 227, Mayank held one end steady while Jitesh slowly found his groove, launching a stunning, match-winning counter-attack on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) that would earn him a cult status among the fans. The local boy Mayank did not let Bengaluru down, while Jitesh, as he promised in an interview before the season, "took care of everything". RCB, earlier crumbling under pressure, has now found the calm, big-match temperament and clutch game that finally matches the hype and fanfare.

-Crown still fits the 'King Kohli', late career reinvention pays off

The variety in match winners does not lower Virat's greatness as a batter as he is having his third-successive 600-run season. The 36-year-old piled up 639 runs with two centuries and five fifties in 2023 but fell short of the playoffs. In the next season, the veteran displayed his improved range, six-hitting and scoring rate, getting the Orange Cap for 741 runs with a century and five fifties. Criticism over his scoring rate fired Virat to launch a six-hitting spree, as he tonked 38 sixes, plenty of them against spin. His overall strike rate was over 154, his best-ever.

Despite his retirement from T20Is last year, the fire in his belly to reinvent his game, shift between different gears and produce consistent, match-winning knocks at 36 is the mark of a true legend.

Virat's reinvention as a spin-attacker has garnered acclaim, as his SR against spin over the last two seasons is above 137 and 132, respectively. His fearless use of slog sweeps against tweakers and dancing down the crease against some of the best in the game has been a refreshing sight.

Since the start of the 2023 season, in 42 innings, Virat has made 1,982 runs at an average of 58.29, with a strike rate of 147.58. Three centuries and 19 fifties have come from his bat, with the second-best batter being Shubman Gill (1,902 runs in 42 innings at an average of 51.40, four centuries and 11 fifties).

-RCB bowlers create magic in powerplay, secure top-class pace, spin spearheads

Coming to their bowling, RCB is a power play giant, with 22 wickets in this phase being the second-highest to Mumbai Indians (22). They also have the lowest economy rate (8.79), the highest dot ball percentage (43.5) and have conceded the second-fewest sixes (28) in this phase. The ability to put pressure right from the word go has paid off well for RCB.

Also, their run-rate of 10.58 during death overs (17-20) is the second-best among all teams, next to Mumbai Indians (MI) run-rate of 10.00 during this season. They have taken a total of 23 wickets so far in this crucial phase of the game, where batters are expected to go bonkers with their shot-making.

Josh Hazlewood (18 wickets in 10 games at an average of 17.27, economy of 8.44 and best figures of 4/33) and Krunal (15 wickets in 13 games at an average of 23.46, economy of 8.58 and best figures of 4/45) have spearheaded the pace and spin attacks to the perfection.

With assistance from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (14 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 30.57, economy rate of 9.30 and best figures of 3/33), Yash Dayal (10 wickets in 13 matches at an average of over 42, economy rate of over 10 with best figures of 2/18), Lungi Ngidi and Shepherd (four wickets each), Nuwan Thusara and Rashikh Salam (one wicket each), RCB is among four bowling units with 50 or more wickets by pacers in IPL 2025, next to Gujarat Titans (53), Sunrisers Hyderabad (66) and Mumbai Indians (70). (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)