Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are currently playing one of their worst Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons. They are still searching for their first victory this season despite playing almost half of their matches. RCB have been poor in all three departments. What really let them down was their fielding unit after bowling.
Fielding is something which is given priority in the current era and playing under someone like Virat Kohli, a fielding error is no less than the crime. Bangalore have the worst catching performance this year. They haven't taken easy catches and have a really low catching percentage.
AB de Villiers, probably the finest RCB fielder, feels fielding needs to be improved. He talked about the previous defeats and wrote about it for the Times of India. “After our most recent defeat at home to Delhi Capitals on Sunday, when we were unable to defend 149 on a slow wicket, I happened to sit next to Gary Kirsten on the bus, as we left the stadium and drove past thousands of our disappointed supporters. The head coach asked me what I was thinking,” he wrote.
“I replied: “More often than not, in cricket, you can assess the state of a team by the way they field. Each player is a batsman or a bowler, and it is understandable that their primary focus is on batting or bowling… but every player is also a fielder and in my view, you need a collective hunger and desire to operate as a strong unit in the field.
“Maybe that’s where we are failing. Our fielding in this tournament has been very poor, and we simply can’t afford to be dropping multiple chances in every match.”
The IPL 2019 outing for RCB has been downward spiral till now. “Groundhog Day stars the actor Bill Murray as a TV weatherman condemned to live through the same day over and over again. Even when he foresees things going wrong, he still can’t escape disaster. It’s an entertaining movie to watch.
“However, it’s not so much fun to experience in real life. At RCB in the 2019 IPL, for some reason, we are being condemned to live through the same day over and over again; we have played six matches and lost six matches.”
RCB are set to face Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) next on Saturday at Mohali.
(With the Times of India Inputs)
