Can RCB win the IPL 2022? This is the question many fans are asking for years. The Royal Challengers Bangalore has qualified for the 2020 and 2021 playoffs because of the consistency of bowlers like Siraj and Harshal, who were excellent in the death overs. Even this season, they’re looking promising, with Josh Hazelwood improving their bowling lineup. They also have an experienced batting line-up this season with the addition of Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik.
Can RCB win the IPL? The positives!
Shahbaz Ahmed’s batting form: Shahbaz Ahmed’s ability to consistently provide quick 30–40 runs off the bat has been RCB’s biggest benefit this season. Shahbaz could become effective with the ball in the second part of the IPL when the pitches will get some cracks on it.
DK the finisher: DK is enjoying the finest IPL season of his life, and we have never seen him finish games as consistently as he is right now. RCB had depended on ABD or Kohli to bat in the death overs in the past as they lacked batting options at those lower positions. This season, DK’s form has made a huge difference in RCB’s lower middle order.
Maxwell is looking comfortable in this season as he is playing his shots from the start of his innings. It appears like he is picking up where he left off in the last IPL.
Faf’s captaincy: Faf has been excellent at managing bowling changes, besides the match against CSK, when he struggled due to a lack of choices to replace Harshal Patel. He usually gets 4 overs out of the least reliable options (Maxwell and Shahbaz) before the death overs.
While they lost the match against CSK, it didn’t affect their run rates too much. They have managed to win or lose marginally in a few games they would have lost by a huge margin.
Faf and Kohli’s form: RCB’s lower middle order has been bailing them out time and time again following top-order failure – this can’t go on continuously. They really need their two big guns to fire from the top. Faf has played captain’s knock in games against Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, but he lacks consistency.
After vastly developing as a T20 bowler in the previous two years, Mohammad Siraj has returned to wayward bowling. Almost every game, he is bowling expensive spells. RCB could adopt a new strategy, such as bowling out his overs before death and leaving the death overs to Hazelwood and Harshal.
The top three batsmen for RCB, Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis, and Virat Kohli do not complement the deep batting lineup. In the first 10–12 balls, each of the top 3 players has a decent strike rate. RCB would like Anuj to start with a bang.
Virat and du Plessis (RCB Twitter)
If they sort out all these problems, then there is a big chance of RCB winning this year’s IPL title.