RR vs RCB, IPL 2022 Qualifier 2: Royal Challengers Bangalore now have way more than just star power

When Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) took on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2022 Eliminator, the Lucknow team must have been expecting an assault from a resurgent Bengaluru franchise. The assault did come, but not from the bats that they were targeting.

Instead, it was the rather reticent (thanks mainly to the glare of the other stars) Rajat Patidar, playing at the vital one-drop position, who initiated the attack and kept it up till the time that the LSG bowlers were left hoping that the 20 overs would end. Patidar’s knock, laudable more so for the crucial winner-take-all situation, however, is not the only thing that is right for RCB this year.

The Bengaluru outfit, even till the last IPL, was seen as a side with three or four big players who would invariably take their side through. One name, inevitably, was skipper Virat Kohli.

But things have changed this year, and the changes are showing. No longer are RCB a one or two-star show. They have found a support cast that has not only matched the big names but has often gone past at a gallop to decide things in their favour.

In fact, the only senior player in the lot who has been consistent in his display has been Dinesh Karthik. The rest, including current skipper Faf du Plessis, Kohli and Glenn Maxwell have been up and down.

That did put RCB in a bit of a situation midway through the league stages, but many hands were shown in their campaign this time around.

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One man who has made inroads since last year of course is Harshal Patel. He may not be as penetrative as he had been before, in terms of wickets at least, but Patel has always been at the forefront when the chips threatened to be down.

Not penetrative is of course a relative term. He is sixth on the IPL 2022 bowlers’ list and with several of those above him already out of the competition, who’s to say where he’ll end up by the end of RCB’s campaign. But even now, 19 wickets from 14 games at a strike rate of 15.89 and an average of 20.05 is right up there.

In the Eliminator, even while defending 207 runs, the RCB bowling attack came under sustained pressure. Patel was the only man who went under seven runs an over, something which was crucial in the end.

Then we have the likes of Patidar, now rubbing shoulders with the star parade. With seven matches in IPL 2022, he definitely was not one of the RCB regulars. But with an incredible century in the Eliminator, he surely will feature in Qualifier 2, as well as the final, if RCB get there. He has 275 runs from just six innings, at an average of 55.00 and a super strike rate of 156.25.

If you see the RCB squad, their first-choice players have all delivered effectively. Wanindu Hasaranga is snapping at Yuzvendra Chahal’s heels for the Purple Cap, while Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Hazlewood and Mohammed Siraj, all have had parts to play and they have done so brilliantly.

Hasaranga has made this IPL quite the one to cherish as the Sri Lankan has vindicated the faith put in him RCB by delivering almost every time with the ball. His 25 wickets have been pure gold. As for Lomror, he has been useful, though he has lots left in the tank.

So, it is no longer about Kohli, Du Plessis and Maxwell. In fact, if the performances of all three were any markers for the Eliminator, RCB would probably have lost.

But then came one of the innings of IPL 2022, as Patidar hammered 112 not out off 54 deliveries with seven sixes and 12 boundaries, going at an incredible strike rate of 207.41. This attack, combined with the steady head of Karthik during the death overs was what carried RCB over the line.

Indicator enough of how critical the junior players have been for RCB this year. Maybe they are the players who could script a change of luck for the team as it again chases the ever-elusive IPL title.

If this year belongs to Royal Challengers Bangalore, the kudos should go to the unheralded players. They are the ones who would have made it possible.

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