IPL Week VII Review - The year of RCB?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been desperate to win the tournament from year one – probably too desperate. For many years their recruitment policy was based as much on celebrity and ego than cricket logic and, whisper it, entitlement. Any team containing AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli had to win, right? Not without good bowlers.

Perhaps the balance is right this year and, after 10 matches, they sit alone at the top of the log with seven wins and 14 points, two ahead of the Gujarat Titans (eight matches), Delhi Capitals (nine matches) and the Mumbai Indians.

Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants are still in touch with the leaders on 11 and 10 points respectively but Kolkata Knight Riders (7) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (6) need a late season surge of victories while the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings need a miracle.

Neil Manthorp looks back at Week 7 of the IPL…

Match of the Week: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (205-5) fought off a determined run-chase from the beleaguered Rajasthan Royals (194-5) in yet another week of one-sided results. It has not been the year of the ‘close result.’

Batter: Rohit Sharma continues to be written off – and bouncing back. Now a fulltime Impact Player, his 70 from 46 balls was just what Mumbai were after in thrashing SRH by seven-wickets with 4.2 overs to spare. Virat Kohli made exactly the same score from four fewer deliveries for RCB (205-5) to up an 11-run victory against Rajasthan.

Bowler: Josh Hazlewood’s death-overs masterclass (4-0-33-4) undermined the Royals’ run-chase just when they looked set to chase down RCB’s 205-5 proving that-trickery and variety are not necessary if you can hit a ‘Test match length’ often enough.

Performance: Krunal Pandya may be the most consistent player in the entire tournament – and certainly one of the most consistently underrated. And adaptable. Yet another vital job with the ball (1-28) for RCB against Delhi Capitals was followed by an unscheduled promotion to No 5…and an unbeaten 73 from 47 balls to anchor a six-wicket victory with nine balls to spare. He then gave all the credit for the victory to Virat Kohli for his (pedestrian) 51 from 47 balls.

Clanger: Glenn Maxwell. See below. Former teammate, Virender Sehwag, didn’t hold back when he said Maxwell was treating the tournament as a “well-paid holiday.” It was harsh, but born out of frustration. He is clearly trying very hard but confidence is a capricious beast.

Overseas Player: Let’s go with a lowlight given that we focus so much on highlights. Australian super-striking, devastating allrounder Glenn Maxwell has excavated new depths for a proven, highly paid import. Scores of 0, 30, 1, 3, 7 and 7 are ‘disappointing’ but the 30 he made against the Rajasthan Royals is his only double figure score in his last 14 IPL innings and he has totalled only 100 runs in his last 17 innings.

Spare a thought for England’s Jacob Bethell who spent seven weeks on the subs bench for RCB before finally getting his chance when countryman Phis Salt was ill. He opened the batting, smashed a six and a four before holing out for 12 from six balls.

Indian Player: It was captain’s week. Shubman Gill (90 from 55 balls) set up Gujarat Titans for a commanding 39-run victory against KKR and DC skipper Axar Patel (34* from 20) finished a clinical eight-wicket demolition of LSG.

South African: Heinrich Klaasen arrived at the crease with SRH in their familiar flounder on 13-3 which immediately became 13-4 and then 35-5. His 71 from 44 balls and 99-run sixth wicket partnership with Abhinav Manohar at least gave the Sunrisers a chance with 143-8…but it was not to be. Same for Dewald Brevis who smashed 42 on debut for the otherwise miserable Chennai Super Kings who slithered to 154 all out and were thrashed, again, this time by SRH.

Corbin Bosch made a strong impression on his long-awaited MI debut smashing 20 from 10 balls and then claiming 1-26 from his four overs but the award this week goes to teammate Ryan Rickelton for his second IPL 50, a rasping 58 from 32 balls with six fours and four sixes for MI to set up their 54-run thrashing of LSG – a fifth consecutive win which briefly moved his team to the top of the log after starting with three consecutive losses.

Talking Point: Sri Lankan allrounder Kamindu Mendis held the catch of the tournament to dismiss Dewald Brevis and send CSK to yet another defeat but it was the outlier, the exception which proves the truth: the outfield catching in this year’s tournament has been woeful, statistically the worst ever. More catches have been dropped than ever before, eight in the match between CSK and Rajasthan. What’s up?

Look out for: It’s time for teams to start being eliminated. Rajasthan will be gone if they lose to in-form Gujarat on Monday and it’ll be goodbye to CSK if they lose to Punjab on Wednesday.