Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s woes in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season were not provided with any respite on Friday (6 April), as they suffered a six-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals. While concerns about their bowling unit continue to linger, Faf du Plessis’ team’s batting unit was not particularly impressive in this match either, scoring only 183 runs.
Being asked to bat first, Bengaluru’s openers set up a 125-run opening stand, but both du Plessis and Virat Kohli struggled to accelerate. Kohli eventually switched gears at the back end of the innings, but the skipper could only score a 33-ball 44, at an underwhelming strike rate of 133.33. On the contrary, Rajasthan’s batters barely had any troubles, and were in complete control of the chase.
After the match, Bengaluru’s skipper stated the pitch was slow initially, and became a lot better in the second innings.
I think batting out there, we (Faf du Plessis & Virat Kohli) found the wicket really tricky and low. We did feel 190 would be a good score. I felt we could have maximised 10 or 15 more towards the end. It was a good toss to win, you did see that it played much nicer with the dew. Virat was playing really well at the back end. We tried to squeeze as hard as we could, but it was quite tricky to hit the ball. With the spinners, a lot of balls were hitting the bottom of the bat. I think the pitch definitely got better (in the second innings). That's what dew does, that's the nature of the wicket. I thought it was a good toss for them to win.Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis Explains Why Mayank Dagar Got the 6th Over
Rajasthan eventually made light work of the chase, but there was a stage where they seemed to be struck in a precarious position, with the score reading 34/1 after five overs. However, the last over of the powerplay saw Jos Buttler smashing 20 runs off Mayank Dagar’s bowling. On being asked about why he did not opt for Glenn Maxwell’s off-spin instead, Faf said:
We started well in the first four overs, then the one over from our spinner (Mayank Dagar), 20 runs, it shifted the pressure back onto us. All the right-handers were batting in the middle, that's why I went to the left-arm spinner. Mayank has been bowling well for us this season. When we got the wicket of (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, with the two right-handers in the middle, it did not feel like the right time to use the off-spinner.Faf du Plessis
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)