Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are yet to win an IPL title despite having some of the game’s superstars at their disposal over the years.
Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the franchise has failed to qualify for the play-offs in the last three seasons. While Kohli had an extraordinary year with the bat, smashing four centuries in IPL 2016 wherein they reached the final, RCB have finished 8th, 6th and 8th in the eight-team table in the subsequent editions.
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Recently, former India opener-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra weighed in over Kohli’s lacklustre showing as RCB skipper, saying the latter hasn't got the support from the team management and that is one of the reasons for his failure as captain in the cash-rich tournament.
Chopra also pointed out that RCB don't pick the right team and their unilateral approach to player selection has led to the downfall.
Answering a fan's question on his show #AakashVani, Chopra said one can't expect miracles from Kohli if the team isn't picked properly.
"He [Kohli] is surely not a successful IPL captain. The team has not done well, it is actually a fact. And it is not one or two years, but many seasons," Aakash Chopra stated.
“There are manifold reasons for that. First thing is that they don't pick the correct team. If you see their squad's strength, you can observe glaring mistakes. You can punch holes in them. There are no fast bowlers, who will bowl at the death, who will bat at No.5 and No.6. They have never addressed these problems. It is a top-heavy batting team, always a thin bowling lineup, the same Yuzi Chahal, just the same fast bowler, that's about it,” he explained.
"If you don't pick the team properly, don't expect miracles from a captain," he continued.
Aakash also suggested RCB’s support staff to improve their game at the auction table.
"Second reason is that when the Indian team captain is the skipper of your franchise, you don't stretch his bandwidth beyond a point. This is with regards to once again the squad selection. The other people need to do a very good job at the time of squad selection."
"I am sure MS Dhoni would have given the CSK management a list of 3-4 players to be picked and left the rest to the support staff, when he was the Indian captain."
"It is almost impossible for you to sit in the auction and spoon feed the management to pick a particular team. You have to support him, I don't think Kohli has had that kind of support from his support staff," he said.
