Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after winning just one match in the first eight and looking like it was all over in IPL 2024, made a resounding comeback by winning six consecutive matches and qualifying for the playoffs. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised experienced team officials Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis for the team’s remarkable second-half resurgence.
Leading players Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and other senior players have to be the ones who encourage the rest of the team the most. Other team members can quickly find themselves in a situation where they may feel like we’ve lost everything. It’s up to the seniors and I think they did their job. They did this by showing them how to do it. Faf and Virat played extraordinary cricket,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Du Plessis (421 runs at 161.81), who struggled with form in the first half of the tournament, appears to have returned to his best form in the last few matches. On the other hand, Kohli (708 runs at 155.60) has had another fruitful season with the bat and is holding the orange cap ahead of the RCB Eliminator clash with Rajasthan Royals.
Can Rajasthan Royals turn the tide?
RCB will go into the game with momentum on their side. RR is in a slump, losing five of their last six after looking impenetrable in the first half of the tournament.
“On the other hand, Rajasthan lost the last four or five matches and they didn’t play well in the last match. So they are out of practice. Now, if they don’t do something special like KKR did today despite not playing for 11 days, tomorrow it might turn out to be another one-sided match. I am afraid it will be another one-sided match where RCB, who are playing simply phenomenal cricket, will go all over RR,” Gavaskar said.
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