New Delhi. The performance of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), which has many star players in the Indian Premier League, has not been as expected so far. Veteran batsmen like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and KL Rahul have also played for it in different seasons of IPL, but the champion The dream of the team to become has not been fulfilled yet. RCB has so far reached the finals thrice – in the years 2009, 2011 and 2016 but each time it had to be content with being the runner-up. The reason behind this is the lack of consistency in the performance of the players and the team not being able to ‘click’ as a unit. Be it batting or bowling department, this team has been over-dependent on some players.
If we take the current season (IPL 2023) only, two RCB batsmen – Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli Orange and one bowler – Mohammad Siraj are among the top-5 contenders for the Purple Cap, but it is currently in 5th place in the points table. This time the team has been most disappointed with two major veteran players – wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who have looked colorless so far. Let us tell you, keeping in mind the explosive performance of the last season, the RCB franchise retained Hasaranga for a whopping amount of ₹ 10.75 crore and Karthik for ₹ 5.5 crore.
Disappointed so far this season
Talking about Hasranga, it is difficult even for veteran batsmen to play his leg break bowling. He is also flamboyant in fielding and also contributes with the bat in the lower order. Dinesh Karthik is also famous for increasing the scoreboard rapidly with vigorous shots. He has hit 69 sixes in T20 matches so far. With this expectation, both of them were retained but in IPL 2023, Hasaranga has so far taken only seven wickets (bowling average 24.71) in six matches.
It is also a matter of concern that Hasaranga, who is usually accurate, has an economy rate of 8.23 during this period. Dinesh Karthik’s record is even more disappointing. Remaining unbeaten once in 9 innings of 9 matches of this season, he has scored only 99 runs (run average 12.37) and his highest score has been 28 runs.
Last year DK scored 330 runs, Hasaranga took 26 wickets
In IPL-2022, Dinesh Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 matches (run average 55.00, strike rate 183.33). In terms of runs for RCB, he was second only to Rajat Patidar (333 runs). Hasranga, on the other hand, was the highest wicket-taker for RCB last season. He took 26 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 16.33, during which his best performance was five wickets for 18 runs.
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Tags: Dinesh Karthik, IPL 2023, rcb, Wanindu Hasaranga
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 05, 2023, 12:22 PM