Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 12-year-long wait to lift the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy can end this season in the UAE.
At the moment, the RCB is placed at the 3rd on the IPL 2020 points table with 12 points, winning 6 of their 9 games in the ongoing T20 league and Ojha feels their dream to lift the trophy looks closer to becoming a reality given their recent form in the tournament.
The star-studded RCB is yet to win the IPL, although they have managed to reach the final thrice, including 5 play-offs appearances; this IPL 13 season, the Virat Kohli-led franchise is looking pretty good to break the jinx and win their maiden trophy in the UAE.
Ahead of RCB’s big IPL 13 encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Ojha pointed out that Bangalore’s big guns have found the form at the right time and they are such players who are hard to stop once they got the flow.
Ojha told Sports Today: “The way they are playing, I think they are very close to reality. This year, I believe, it won't be a dream for them because of the way they are playing. Once these kinds of players, like ABD (de Villiers), Virat Kohli, and Chris Morris, once they get that flow and the start, they are different players.”
However, he said the T20 format is so unpredictable where the things will change within a minute and the best example was Tuesday’s IPL 2020 match where KXIP defeated table-topper DC by 5 wickets.
He further added, “Yesterday, we saw it with Kings XI Punjab. We have always spoken about the potential of this team, when they got going, they beat Mumbai, they beat DC -- the top 2 teams. We shouldn't take anybody lightly. This format is such that things will change within a minute.”
Ojha credited Mike Hesson's appointment as the leader of the RCB’s support staff for its brilliant run in the ongoing IPL 2020.
Ojha signed off by saying, “I think they are much more composed. Their clarity of thought is very good, except for that one game. The one thing that they were lacking is the coach, they had the players all these years, Kohli, ABD. Hesson has got that stability (they needed). They had most of their players earlier also. This year, their planning and the way they are going about their business is more mature.”
