Former New Zealand cricket player and well-known commentator Simon Doull explained how teams have been trying to hit Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Mohammed Siraj from the start in the last few games.
Siraj was very dangerous for Bangalore during the powerplay. In the first nine games of the IPL 2023 season, he took at least one wicket during that time. But the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) have shown that a counterattack could be a way to stop Siraj in his tracks.
Simon Doull told Cricbuzz after the game what he thought about their batting problems after giving up 200 runs to MI in just 16.3 overs:
“Teams have learned that when they go after Siraj, he might move back half a step.” Maybe he doesn’t have the same amount of confidence as he did earlier in the season. Harshal, how many no-balls at waist height has he thrown so far? “I can remember three or four games, except for the one in which he was taken out of the attack.”
RCB depends too much on its big names. Simon Doull
Simon Doull also said that the Royal Challengers Bangalore never really had a big enough goal on the board against MI. After Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell made a huge partnership, RCB’s batting went apart, and they could only score 199/6 in their 20 overs.
Here’s what Doull said:
“I thought (RCB) were short by 20 runs, but it turned out they were short by 40 runs.” They depend too much on their big guns to do anything. Faf and Maxi did a great job at the plate, and DK made an appearance, but they just couldn’t get the finish they needed.
Now, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will play the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on May 14. This could be a very important game for both teams as they try to make it to the next round.
