From the iSport Champions League Pavilion: Our humourous and witty iSporter Joanne D'Souza pens a piece for her favourite team Royal Challengers Bangalore. Read as she shares a flashback of RCB's current position and what's in store for tonight against Mumbai Indians.
The Champions League has caused quite a family feud at my home. My brother and I have been giving each other the cold shoulder since last night. Our parents have been struggling to ensure that our paths don’t cross which is turning out to be a near-impossible task considering that we live only in a suburban apartment. As my brother, on the verge of weeping, watched the highlights of Mumbai Indians lose against the Redbacks, I jeered at him, “You will weep again tonight as Mumbai Indians lose to another team in Red!” (He replied with a few choice words that are not suitable to write in this article and my father stepped in at the right time, saving me from a black eye!)
While my brother worships the ground Sachin Tendulkar walks on, I cannot be disloyal to Rahul Dravid, the hero from my teenage years. So, unfortunately for my parents, this feud between my otherwise-peace-loving brother and me will resurrect each time The Royal Challengers Bangalore clash against the Mumbai Indians.
What intensifies our little family feud is the fact that today’s match is crucial for both teams in keeping their hopes for a Semi-final spot alive. Of course, having lost 2 of their 3 matches the Mumbai Indians look like a less confident side as compared to the IPL. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers won their first match in style yet they floundered in their second match. Even seasoned cricket experts, I suspect, may still be in 2 minds about which is likely to emerge victorious. Moreover, the last time the two teams faced each other was when the Mumbai Indians crushed the Royal Challengers’ chances of making it to the IPL Finals. I’ll be hoping that the Royal Challengers are able to deliver a fitting reply!
Flashback
In the first game of the Champions League, the Royal Challengers pretty much lived up to their name, royally chasing down a meagre total of 103 runs. The bowling was disciplined, with the bowlers hardly giving the batsmen a chance to flex their muscles. After losing half their wickets with only 70 runs on the board and only 6 overs to go, their side had no chance of putting up a decent defendable total. A mere 100 runs proved to be cake-walk for the opening pair of Kallis and Dravid, who led the team to a very comprehensive victory!
However, the quiet confidence that the Royal Challengers played with against Guyana was nowhere to be found against the Redbacks. They floundered with the bat and the ball. Kallis, the star of the previous match, I imagine would’ve been sorely missed. The batsmen couldn’t even survive till the end of the 20 overs, all having departed with still one ball left to spare. Nonetheless, 154 isn’t as poor a score as 103. If only they had bowled with as much restraint as they did against Guyana, this total could’ve been successfully defended. However, what ensued is a hammering loss against a menacing side.
This raises a pertinent question – is the Royal Challengers’ side only potent against teams that are relatively weak or inexperienced? Or will they be able to hold up against potent teams such as the Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai Indians may have lost their first 2 games, but they went down fighting in closely contested matches. They were also the most consistent side in the IPL (other than the Kings XI of course, who consistently lost!). The Royal Challengers will have their work cut out for them in today’s encounter.
While my brother worships the ground Sachin Tendulkar walks on, I cannot be disloyal to Rahul Dravid, the hero from my teenage years. So, unfortunately for my parents, this feud between my otherwise-peace-loving brother and me will resurrect each time The Royal Challengers Bangalore clash against the Mumbai Indians.
What intensifies our little family feud is the fact that today’s match is crucial for both teams in keeping their hopes for a Semi-final spot alive. Of course, having lost 2 of their 3 matches the Mumbai Indians look like a less confident side as compared to the IPL. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers won their first match in style yet they floundered in their second match. Even seasoned cricket experts, I suspect, may still be in 2 minds about which is likely to emerge victorious. Moreover, the last time the two teams faced each other was when the Mumbai Indians crushed the Royal Challengers’ chances of making it to the IPL Finals. I’ll be hoping that the Royal Challengers are able to deliver a fitting reply!
Flashback
In the first game of the Champions League, the Royal Challengers pretty much lived up to their name, royally chasing down a meagre total of 103 runs. The bowling was disciplined, with the bowlers hardly giving the batsmen a chance to flex their muscles. After losing half their wickets with only 70 runs on the board and only 6 overs to go, their side had no chance of putting up a decent defendable total. A mere 100 runs proved to be cake-walk for the opening pair of Kallis and Dravid, who led the team to a very comprehensive victory!
However, the quiet confidence that the Royal Challengers played with against Guyana was nowhere to be found against the Redbacks. They floundered with the bat and the ball. Kallis, the star of the previous match, I imagine would’ve been sorely missed. The batsmen couldn’t even survive till the end of the 20 overs, all having departed with still one ball left to spare. Nonetheless, 154 isn’t as poor a score as 103. If only they had bowled with as much restraint as they did against Guyana, this total could’ve been successfully defended. However, what ensued is a hammering loss against a menacing side.
This raises a pertinent question – is the Royal Challengers’ side only potent against teams that are relatively weak or inexperienced? Or will they be able to hold up against potent teams such as the Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai Indians may have lost their first 2 games, but they went down fighting in closely contested matches. They were also the most consistent side in the IPL (other than the Kings XI of course, who consistently lost!). The Royal Challengers will have their work cut out for them in today’s encounter.
Key to Victory
The Royal Challengers have quite a team – an even mix of experience and youth, of classy batsmen and bowlers with precision! And, it is the entire team that will have to perform if they hope to win against Mumbai Indians, a team that has played on the weakness of the side and defeated the Royal Challengers in previous matches.
In both the previous matches, it is difficult to claim that the match was thanks to either the batsmen or the bowlers. No single player could be singled out to be credited for the victory or loss. In both cases, it was the team that either clicked as a whole or completely disintegrated.
I hope that tonight the team works magic (and Kallis recovers from his injury!) and poses a 'Royal Challenge' for the Mumbai Indians. If not, their semi-final hopes could be put in jeopardy (besides, it would give me immense sadistic pleasure to laugh at my brother’s morose face!).
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