Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu did not hold back while criticising Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players and their team management after a 28-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at home.
Rayudu feels that the big names fail when the team is under pressure.
"I feel their bowling always gives over-par runs and batting performs under par. No big-name batter is seen playing for RCB when they are under pressure. Such teams never win. This is why they have not won the IPL for so many years," Rayudu said on Star Sports.
In the run chase against LSG, RCB lost early wickets and were unable to recover as Mayank Yadav fired thunderbolts at their middle-order batters. Rajat Patidar and Mahipal Lomror could not get the run chase back on track whereas Dinesh Karthik struggled and threw his wicket away.
"All young players keep playing down the order and the big-name players go at the top and leave after eating the cake over the cream. If you see, who were the batters batting under pressure - your young Indian batters and Dinesh Karthik," Rayudu added.
Rayudu poses tough questions
RCB's team combination has always been top-heavy. If the top order fails, they have trouble posting a big total. Rayudu believes that it has been the same story for 16 years.
"Your big-name international players, who need to take the pressure, where were they? All of them were in the dressing room. This is not happening today. This has been this team's story for the last 16 years," he opined.
Batters disappoint
So far, Kohli is doing the bulk of scoring for RCB. He has scored 203 runs from four innings at an average of 67.97 including two half-centuries. The next RCB batter on the list is Karthik who has 90 runs from as many games. Skipper Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell have failed to perform in the initial phase.
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RCB’s next game
After a 28-run loss to KL Rahul's LSG, RCB will go to Jaipur to face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 6. After four games, they are placed ninth on the points table with just one win.
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