Hyderabad: India tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi slammed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) management after back-to-back poor performances in the current edition of the Indian Premier League 2024. The team conceded 287-the highest ever total in IPL history- against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday.
“For the sake of the Sport , the IPL, the fans and even the players I think BCCI needs to enforce the Sale of RCB to a New owner who will care to build a sports franchise the way most of the other teams have done so. #tragic,” Bhupathi wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In a match that witnessed absolute run-fest, RCB bowlers, at home, conceded 287 runs, which was the highest total in the league so far. With RCB having the 'worst' bowling attack among the 10 teams, and their star pacer, Mohammed Siraj, being ruled out of the match against SRH, the bowling woes of RCB were all over the place. The loyal fans of the franchise again came down heavily on the management and urged the team to do some miracle to get back on the track.
In the second innings, RCB started well as Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis gave the team a flying start. When Kohli looked dangerous and the target was turning out to be a possible thing, SRH spinner Mayank Markande clean-bowled him. RCB were 80/1 in 6.2 overs. Will Jacks (7 off 4 balls) was unfortunate to get run out as Faf’s straight drive touched Jaidev Unadkat’s fingers and hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Later, the heroics of RCB batter Dinesh Karthik gave immense hopes to the team in blue and red. However, despite Karthik's significant effort (83 from 35 balls), he was unable to secure a victory. RCB lost the game by 25 runs despite managing to score 262/7 in 20 overs.
In the post-match presentation, RCB skipper Du Plessis admitted that the pressure is way too much and mind could explode at any time. "It's tough, we tried a few things and they weren't quite working," Du Plessis said.
"There's no way to hide when your confidence is low. The fast bowlers found it quite difficult out there. Similar to the batting perspective, we need to work on a few areas," he added.
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