While it has been a nightmare season for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, the leggie, Yuzvendra Chahal still believes that the Virat Kohli’s side could script a place in the playoffs of the tournament.
With 6 defeats in the six games so far, it has been the worst start to the season for any IPL side since Delhi Daredevils lost their first six matches of the 2013 season. For the third consecutive season, RCB looks out of the race for a playoff position in the IPL.
Everything that could wrong has gone wrong for RCB this season. When the bowling unit performs, the batting unit fails. When the batters score big, the bowlers let the team down. With no wins from the first six games, RCB look to be heading down a familiar path. But spinner Yuzvendra Chahal still believes that RCB can qualify for the playoffs if the team can win their remaining games in the IPL.
“We have to forget about the games we lost because we cannot change the results. We have to put losses behind and focus on eight matches coming up,” Chahal said at the pre-match press conference ahead of their crucial game against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.
“We are six down, but we still have an outright chance to qualify for the playoffs. If you can remember in 2016, when we played in final, we were in the same kind of situation. We needed to win six out of seven games. We need to back our skills,” he said.
Chahal weighed in the situation that has led RCB to this position where that have lost six matches on the trot and are placed at the bottom of the points table. Chahal does not want to lay any blame on individuals as the whole team has failed to click as a unit.
“I am not going to blame batting or bowling. I think as a team we have not clicked, we are not playing as a team. Sometimes our batting is not working and sometimes bowling. We need to understand that it is not an individual game, you can’t depend upon couple of players. All the eleven players need to step up,” Chahal said.
“We need to improve in our death bowling as well. It is a big issue for us. We are bowling well till the 16th over. We need to finish well,” the wrist-spinner said.
Even though his team has languished at the bottom, Chahal has been a shining light for his team as he has emerged as one of the leading wicket-takers of the IPL 2019. Chahal will now be seen in action when RCB take on Kings XI Punjab at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Saturday.