"Look at the celebrations when their Women's team won the WPL.."- Kevin Pietersen kingpins this for RCB's loss in IPL 2024

Former England captain and commentator Kevin Pietersen didn't hold back as he criticized Royal Challengers Bangaluru’s (RCB) inconsistent performance in IPL 2024 following their elimination from the lucrative T20 league on Wednesday, May 22.

RCB's roller-coaster journey came to an end after they suffered a heartbreaking four-wicket loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL 2024 Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The RR managed to break RCB’s 6-match winning streak with a perfect all-round attack.

Analyzing RCB's IPL 2024 campaign as reported by India Today, the Englishman pointed out the big difference between their early struggles and their late resurgence in the tournament. Notably, RCB has yet to clinch an IPL title despite making it to the IPL 2024 playoffs on ten occasions.

What on earth happened for the first month of IPL 2024?: Kevin Pietersen to RCB

Well, Pietersen questioned RCB's slow start this season by stating: “From Bengaluru's point of view, they can take a lot of heart from how they played over the last sort of 4 to 5 weeks. But they've also got to stay to themselves. What on earth happened for the first month of the tournament?”

However, the former England skipper hailed RCB's remarkable turnaround in the IPL 2024, but he emphasized the challenge of maintaining such long winning streaks. He added, “Because you can't expect yourself to win 7, 8, or 9 games in a row. It just doesn't happen. You have to create history.”

Before losing the Eliminator to RR, RCB recorded six consecutive wins after losing seven games on the trot, but Pietersen still believes that the Bengaluru-based franchise must reflect on their initial setbacks in the IPL 2024, which ultimately disrupted their campaign.

Meanwhile, Pietersen acknowledged the logistical hurdles and grueling schedule of the IPL. Speaking about the demanding nature of the tournament, he noted: “Get up today and then go to Chennai flight tomorrow at some stage and then beat Hyderabad in Chennai on Friday night, okay, and then wake oppression and do what on Saturday today and then KKR are replaying brilliant cricket on Sunday.”

Kevin Pietersen empathizes with RCB fans

Pietersen expressed disappointment over RCB's repeated failures in the IPL and empathized with its dedicated fan base. “RCB's failure to capitalize on their potential is disheartening, especially considering their passionate supporters," the commentator lamented, referring to the passionate fanfare witnessed during the team's matches in the IPL 2024.

The Englishman signed off by saying, “Have a look at the celebrations when the women won that tournament. Have a look at what happened in the streets of Bangalore, and you can see how much it means. The fans were here, and I'm going, but we had 89,000 people. There are probably 88,000 of them that were rooting for Bangalore this evening, and that just typifies the expectation that these guys have to deal with.”

Notably, RCB won seven of their 14 league games this season before being knocked out by the Royals in the elimination. Now, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and RR will battle out to get the ticket to IPL 2024, where they will face the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 26 in Chennai.