After Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) recent loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where they fell 21 runs short of KKR’s first innings total of 200/5, a lot of questions were asked about RCB’s batting unit.
Although they have world-beaters in the form of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell, who make up RCB’s top order, the batting fails disintegrates if the trio do not score the bulk of the team’s runs, which was the case against KKR.
Chasing a target of 201 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was not impossible on a pitch that wasn’t offering much to the bowlers. However, they lost both Du Plessis and Maxwell within the powerplay overs, with the former scoring 17 off 7 deliveries and the latter scoring just 5 off 4 deliveries.
Kohli, the ‘Chase Master’, was not only left to rebuild the innings, but to ensure that he sees the chase through. Such has been the incompetency of the rest of the RCB batting unit that one wicket amounts to much more for the opposition. Or, should we say that it’s the overdependence on the famed ‘KGF’ troika that’s hurting RCB?
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Well, the stats back this claim up.
RCB have won four and lost four in the eight games they have played this season and sitting in fifth spot in the IPL table.
To put things into perspective, at least one of the three top order batsmen have scored a half century in each of those four wins, while at least two of them have crossed the 50-run mark in the same innings in three of those four victories. A player not named Kohli, Maxwell, or Du Plessis is yet to score a half century for RCB this season.
On the contrary, of the four defeats they tasted, only once did all three score half centuries. In their narrow 1-wicket loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), RCB batted first and posted 212-2 on the board, with Kohli, Du Plessis, and Maxwell all contributing with half centuries.
Two of those four defeats have come against KKR, the recent 21-run loss and a humiliating 81-run loss at Eden Gardens earlier this season.
In the game in Kolkata, on April 6, RCB were off to a flying start while chasing a target of 205. However, they lost Kohli, Du Plessis, and Maxwell in the space of 15 balls to be reduced to 54-3 after 7.2 overs. They were dismissed for 123 in 17.4 overs, with six batsmen outside the KGF trio failing to cross the single-digit mark.
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The perfect example of how dependent RCB have been on their top order was their gut-wrenching 8-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Chasing a gargantuan target of 227 at Chepauk, RCB lost Kohli on the fourth ball of the first over. Mahipal Lomror, who was promoted to the No. 3 position, failed to capitalize on the opportunity and departed without troubling the scorers. RCB were in a precarious situation, reeling at 15-2 before the end of the 2nd over.
However, Du Plessis and Maxwell stitched a formidable 126-run partnership that came off just 61 balls to put RCB firmly into the drivers’ seat. Or so we thought.
What followed was a collapse as Du Plessis lost his wicket in the very next over, shifting the momentum back in CSK’s favour.
When Du Plessis departed, RCB need 68 runs in 6 overs. Any side that has six wickets left would believe they stood a chance of pulling off the run chase. Not RCB. Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed provided a glimpse of hope for RCB when they joined hands to stitch a 32-run partnership off just 17 balls. Karthik looked in fine fettle, scoring 28 runs in just 13 balls. He was, however, dismissed off the 14th ball of his innings, shutting down any chance that RCB had of beating CSK.
How much of RCB's runs were scored by its top three in IPL 2023?
RCB have scored 1441 runs in eight games this season. Meanwhile, Du Plessis is the current Orange Cap holder, having scored 422 runs in eight innings. He is followed by his opening partner Kohli, who has scored 333 runs in the same number of innings. Maxwell has 258 runs to his name this season and lies in ninth spot in the Orange Cap list.
The trio have scored a combined 1013 runs this season, which is 70.3% of the total runs scored by RCB this season.
| Player | Runs | Percentage of runs scored |
| Faf du Plessis | 422 | 29.3% |
| Virat Kohli | 333 | 23.1% |
| Glenn Maxwell | 258 | 17.9% |
| TOTAL | 1013 | 70.3% |
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Batting statistics of RCB’s players this season
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Highest |
| Faf du Plessis | 8 | 422 | 60.29 | 167.46 | 84 |
| Virat Kohli | 8 | 333 | 47.57 | 142.31 | 82 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 8 | 258 | 36.86 | 186.96 | 77 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 8 | 83 | 11.86 | 131.75 | 28 |
| Mahipal Lomror | 5 | 75 | 18.75 | 133.93 | 34 |
| Shahbaz Ahmed | 6 | 42 | 10.5 | 107.69 | 20 |
| David Willey | 3 | 35 | - | 109.38 | 20 |
| Suyash Prabhudessai | 3 | 29 | 9.67 | 131.82 | 19 |
| Michael Bracewell | 1 | 19 | 19.00 | 105.56 | 19 |
| Akash Deep | 1 | 17 | 17 | 212.50 | 17 |
| Anuj Rawat | 2 | 16 | 16.00 | 59.26 | 15 |
| Vijaykumar Vyshak | 2 | 13 | 13.00 | 144.44 | 13 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 3 | 13 | 6.50 | 100.00 | 6 |
| Harshal Patel | 2 | 6 | 3.00 | 100.00 | 6 |
| Wayne Parnell | 1 | 2 | 2.00 | 40.00 | 2 |
| Karn Sharma | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 33.33 | 1 |
| Mohammed Siraj | 1 | 1 | - | 100.00 | 1 |
