Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta called for more aggression from the Royal Challengers Bangalore batting order, given their batting depth in IPL 2022.
Bangalore extended their impressive run in the ongoing season, storming past Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs in the Eliminator clash on May 25. Rajat Patidar’s stroke-filled 54-ball 112* powered them to 207/4 after being put in to bat, with Dinesh Karthik (37* off 23) ensuring a strong finish.
LSG threatened to chase the total down, but Harshal Patel (1/25) made the run-scoring incredibly tough during his four-over spell, while Josh Hazlewood returned 3/43.
While Patel has shown his expertise in the slog overs, RCB’s death-bowling woes did resurface somewhat on Wednesday at a high-scoring venue. Throughout the tournament, they’ve gone with four specialist bowlers, with skipper Faf du Plessis using Shahbaz Ahmed and Glenn Maxwell smartly to fill in for the remaining overs.
Speaking on the ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker, Dasgupta felt that RCB can approach their batting with more aggression, given that they have Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal at No.8 and 9, both of whom can hit big if required.
“Kohli is doing good and looked better in the last game as he was amongst the runs. The valuable runs would give him a different type of confidence. Other batters like Patidar, Faf have been doing well, with DK having a fabulous season so the batting unit looks solid.
For someone like Bangalore, who have a deep batting line-up, with Harshal being handy as well, they can be a little aggressive.”
“They have good bowlers in the form of Hazlewood, Harshal, and Hasaranga. But they still kind of lack with their death overs as Hazlewood has only been brilliant in powerplay overs, while Siraj is not having a good season.
It all comes down to Harshal Patel, but when there is dew and the ball is not gripping, it will be an issue for Bangalore as the last five overs have not been good for the team.”
Du Plessis’ men will face Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on May 27.
