IPL 2019: Poor Team Selections Cost Royal Challengers Bangalore the Season - Anil Kumble

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were the first team to bow out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). They have struggled to put consistent performance which has hurt them badly. Former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble has rued mediocre team selection as the reason behind their dismal run in the season.

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Bangalore got off to the worst possible start to this season. They lost six matches on a trot before tasting some victory in the second half of the tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore tasted their first win against Kings XI Punjab to secure the first points before going down against Mumbai Indians. The arrival of fast bowler Dale Steyn changed the course as the Virat Kohli-led side to register three straight wins over Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. However, they went down against Delhi Capitals by 16 runs before sharing a point with Rajasthan Royals to bow out of the tournament.

Poor selections hurt RCB: Kumble

Anil Kumble feels Royal Challengers Bangalore’s management struggled with the team selection throughout the season which cost them in this edition. He mostly held responsible the bowling unit for failing to put up a consistent effort. Kumble also said that the team is heavily reliant on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers while others couldn’t chip in at crucial junctures.

“Selections made by RCB didn’t go their way. They picked only 3 foreign players in their playing XI. The batting was heavily dependent on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. However, when the duo failed, the remaining batting couldn’t just perform. Add to that the bowling woes for the franchise, as their senior bowler Umesh Yadav was highly inconsistent.

Yuzvendra Chahal was at his best. But losing Moeen Ali and Marcus Stoinis was bad for the team just when they were gaining steam. Dale Steyn came in for two games and impressed lot, but his injury was unfortunate,” Anil Kumble said in a video for CricketNext.

Moreover, Anil Kumble said that Royal Challengers Bangalore backed a lot of unknown names in the tournament like Akshdeep Nath and Shivam Dube but they have failed to rise up to the occasion. In conclusion, Kumble said the emergence of Navdeep Saini and consistency of Parthiv Patel are the only positives for the franchise in this season.

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