[VWAllstar]

What has Riyan Parag started to eat? Definitely not Pan Parag He is looking like a different player this IPL. Almost like a man on mission and the mission is Team India for WC.

[deathwalkr]

What a thriller of a match! Heartbreak for RR but still early days in the tournament.

[Revvatron]

When Pandya was walking in there were clear boo's in the stadium. That's how I guessed he might be coming in. He hits first ball six and Manjrekar said when he was coming in everyone was screaming hardik hardik. He even said the whole crowd is standing by their captain.
Maybe I only heard the boo's because it's TV and the picture might be different in stadium, but still it was weird to see him going to such lengths trying to convince that everyone was cheering him.

[Eddy]

Kohli cops a lot of flak but looks like he is the only thing that is working somewhat for RCB.

Everyone else is a failure including the management. A complete overhaul is needed. And even that might not be enough given there is no candidate who can take over from Faf. It is unlikely that an Indian potential skipper will be available in the auction. They will have to go for a foreign skipper again which has never really worked long time for any franchise.

"ee sala cup namde" will remain a pipe dream.

[AtheK]

RCB bowlers got Surya and Hardik back to form, this will be their contribution to the upcoming World Cup and Indian Team fans send their regards.

The confidence for our team should be shattered tonight, they did put up a good total without Kohli, so that is a positive, but bowling unit is just college level, they would not be able to defend 300 also like this.

RCB needs to let go of every single member of this team including Kohli and rebuild from scratch, mega auction might see Rohit Sharma coming under the hammer, they should go all out to get him in the team.

[Pythonic]

Originally Posted by AtheK

RCB needs to let go of every single member of this team including Kohli and rebuild from scratch, mega Auction might see Rohit sharma coming under the hammer, they should go all out to get him in the team.

That is so typically RCB, pick a player after he is past his prime
Actually there were strong rumours that Ishan Kishan wanted to get off MI before this IPL. If he is not retained, he should 100% be bought by RCB and made the captain. They should actually try to get some bowlers too the next time.

[landcruiser123]

After the recent loss, I'm convinced RCB can't defend 300 in a T20 game.

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by Pythonic

Actually there were strong rumours that Ishan Kishan wanted to get off MI before this IPL. If he is not retained, he should 100% be bought by RCB and made the captain. They should actually try to get some bowlers too the next time.

I think Ishan will prefer to stay now that Pandya is captain. He was training alongside him for IPL as well.
Even if they buy players past their prime, that doesn't mean it shouldn't work. Best example is CSK . This points out to their whole structure where players start performing when they leave the RCB setup. Players like Dube, Head etc.,

[Aakash118]

The biggest problem with RCB is that they don’t recognise future Indian stars and always let them go. Their second highest Indian run getter is still Dravid. In the last 5-7 years every team has devloped consistent young Indian batters, Gill, Ishan, Ruturaj, Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma and so on. But where are RCB’s consistent youngsters? They didn’t retain KL, didn’t retain Padikkal, didn’t retain Dube and what can I say about not retaining a player like Chahal, that must be one of the most foolish non retention in IPL history. The result is they don’t have a single quality spinner now. And same goes about pace attack, no consistent performers. Siraj is a kind of bowler who will win you one or two games on his own but in all other games he will go at 10+ rpo. It makes me really sad to see two of my favourite players (VK & DK) still playing for this pathetic team.

[udzgodfather]

While other teams lose match in the ground, RCB loses its matches at the auction table, just like what Dhoni has become for CSK, VK has become for RCB, I don't think he will be leaving RCB before his retirement.


Over the fiasco of MI vs HP vs Hitman I have few opinions

1. HP's requirement for changing teams for Captaincy, then news were out that HP will join MI, then news came that he is not joining if they don't make him the captain, then respective teams gave statement that nothing is happening few days after that change happens with HP being the captain, which makes HP look like a power hungry player who is in the game not for playing but for personal agendas.

2. Whereas Rohit came out as a selfless captain after the WC, people are not booing Hitman for losing the WC, they are sympathising with him, showing support to him, and MI kicking him out to them felt personal, like when you are ousted from workplace because you couldn't give results despite working hard, fans wanted to give Hitman another chance.

3. I think MI management thought that since India lost its WC in Nov, they will be able to replace Hitman with HP, loss of WC being a precursor to the replacement of Hitman, but it backfired.

4. HP suffering from back to back injuries when ICT is playing international cricket but back in fitness for IPL has also left a bad taste for the fans.

5. The final nail in the coffin was HP asking Hitman to go near the boundary for fielding, which the fans found as disrespect towards Hitman, as it came out as establishing authority
over Rohit.

My thoughts are entirely biased and leaning towards Hitman, I do believe that what MI did with Hitman was disrespectful, and how HP treated him at times was also not good, due regard and respect was not extended to him by HP caused the fiasco. I think HP was what Yuvraj was to ICT till 2011, before succumbing to so much injuries but he believes that he is what MSD was to ICT in his career.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by Aakash118

The biggest problem with RCB is that they don’t recognise future Indian stars and always let them go. Their second highest Indian run getter is still Dravid. In the last 5-7 years every team has devloped consistent young Indian batters, Gill, Ishan, Ruturaj, Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma and so on. But where are RCB’s consistent youngsters? They didn’t retain KL, didn’t retain Padikkal, didn’t retain Dube and what can I say about not retaining a player like Chahal, that must be one of the most foolish non retention in IPL history. The result is they don’t have a single quality spinner now. And same goes about pace attack, no consistent performers. Siraj is a kind of bowler who will win you one or two games on his own but in all other games he will go at 10+ rpo. It makes me really sad to see two of my favourite players (VK & DK) still playing for this pathetic team.

True. Looks like RCB management's goals are different. Only the fans are saying they want RCB to win.

RCB did recognize the biggest future Indian star, Virat Kohli

[NPV]

Hardik seems to be proving that captaincy isn’t for him!
He gives the impression that being “aggressive” with just brute force always wins, with absolutely no thinking or strategy.

When the pacers were leaking 20 odd runs an over, he didn’t even bother to try Shreyas Gopal who bowled just one over for 9 runs and got a wicket to boot. Similarly, Nabi bowled just 3 overs for 19.

Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen were hugely critical of Hardik’s captaincy today and rightly so. KP went on to say that all the booing has gotten to Hardik’s head and is playing on his mind.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by NPV

Hardik seems to be proving that captaincy isn’t for him! KP went on to say that all the booing has gotten to Hardik’s head and is playing on his mind.

Captaincy should be based on your tactics & intelligent game changing moves! Unfortunately in this case his Captaincy was judged on the basis of results in the past 2 seasons with GT !

[Thalla]

Originally Posted by Aakash118

The biggest problem with RCB is that they don’t recognise future Indian stars and always let them go. Their second highest Indian run getter is still Dravid. In the last 5-7 years every team has devloped consistent young Indian batters, Gill, Ishan, Ruturaj, Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma and so on. But where are RCB’s consistent youngsters? They didn’t retain KL, didn’t retain Padikkal, didn’t retain Dube and what can I say about not retaining a player like Chahal, that must be one of the most foolish non retention in IPL history. The result is they don’t have a single quality spinner now. And same goes about pace attack, no consistent performers. Siraj is a kind of bowler who will win you one or two games on his own but in all other games he will go at 10+ rpo. It makes me really sad to see two of my favourite players (VK & DK) still playing for this pathetic team.

It was a strange decision by RCB to let go Chahal.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by NPV

Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen were hugely critical of Hardik’s captaincy today and rightly so. KP went on to say that all the booing has gotten to Hardik’s head and is playing on his mind.

So true, anyone can make it out with his body language whenever the camera pans at him in the dugout, he doesn't seem to be at ease. Feels he's trying too hard at the moment and nothing is going in his favor.

I think at GT he managed his troops pretty well and it was indeed a robust team, also being a new team, he wasn't carrying the unwanted baggage and performance pressure at GT. But at MI (5 times champion) things aren't the same, that's shrewd management and the big wigs sitting outside in the dug-outs to deal with. And now the crowd booing him is also not helping his cause.