Key takeaways from RCB's campaign in IPL 2024
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's campaign in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) was a story of two halves. They had a solitary victory in their first eight games before the Challengers miraculously won six on the trot. The same earned them a playoff berth. However, a defeat to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator knocked them out. Here are the key takeaways from their campaign.
Six wins followed by as many defeats
After losing the season opener against Chennai Super Kings, RCB beat Punjab Kings to open their account in the standings. They then lost six on the bounce as the team was reeling at the bottom of the table. However, six successive wins helped them rise again and finish fourth in the team standings (14 points). RR, however, ended their dream run in the Eliminator.
Kohli dominates the scoring
Virat Kohli dominated the batting charts in the season as he smashed a whopping 741 runs at 61.75. His strike rate was 154.69 and the same silenced many of his critics. Kohli also hit 38 sixes, the joint-most by him in an IPL season. Notably, Kohli's strike rate went further up in the latter half as many other RCB batters regained form.
Dismal show from Maxwell, Jacks starred
The dashing Glenn Maxwell could manage just 52 runs from 10 matches at 5.78. The tally includes four ducks. His below-par show earned England's Will Jacks a berth in the RCB XI. The swashbuckler grabbed the opportunity from both ends as he hammered 230 runs at a strike rate of 175.57. He was RCB's only other centurion besides Kohli.
Du Plessis and Patidar regained form at the right time
Kohli was RCB's lone warrior in the top order in the initial half of the season. However, skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar returned to form to assist him in the latter half. The latter, who scored five fifties, had a season strike rate of 177.13 (395 runs). He was particularly destructive in the middle overs. Du Plessis managed 438 at 29.20.
Karthik bid adieus to IPL in style
Dinesh Karthik was at his destructive best in his final IPL campaign as he made 326 runs at a strike rate of 187.35. He aced the finisher's role as his tally of 249 runs in the final five overs is only second to Tristan Stubbs (252). In fact, RCB's run rate of 12.55 in the final five overs is the best in IPL 2024.
Dayal and Siraj starred for RCB with the ball
Pacers Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj finished with 15 wickets each. While the latter was brilliant with his variations in the end overs, Siraj bowled some fiery powerplay spells in the second half of the season. Meanwhile, all-rounder Cameron Green took 10 wickets at an impressive economy of 8.61. Though Lockie Ferguson's economy was 10.62, he also took nine wickets.
The Swapnil Singh factor
Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh often struck for RCB in the opening over. In fact, five of his six wickets in the season came in the powerplay. Meanwhile, the lead spinner Karn Sharma was inconsistent as he took seven wickets at an economy of 10.58. Maxwell also took six wickets with his off-spin (ER: 8.06).
