Ganguly: RCB needs Chris Gayle back in the team

Before coming into the IPL, Gayle had a rather torrid time in the Pakistan Super League - in 9 matches, he scratched his way to a paltry 160 at an average of just 17. And his lackadaisical form has continued in the IPL as well which led to Bangalore dropping him twice in five matches. In the last game against Rising Pune Supergiant, he was left out to accommodate Shane Watson in the playing XI. Failures notwithstanding, Ganguly believes that RCB should play Chris Gayle consistently to get more success.

Speaking to India Today, the former India skipper said, "What they need to think is that they need to find a way to get Chris Gayle back into the team, Gayle has to play in the IPL. Yes they have had a little bit of a tough time, I know they are trying to get Shane Watson play as an all-rounder but Watson has done nothing and he looks like a patch of his old self and maybe there can be a case of swapping him with Gayle at the top of the order. De Villiers can come down at No. 5 or 6 and finish the innings. They need to shuffle a bit because they have gone exactly the way they did last season."  

After losing to Pune by 27 runs on Sunday, RCB have slumped to the bottom position on the points table with four losses in five matches. It must have been a sense of déjà vu for them, they had a similar start last year losing 5 out of their opening 7 games, but still managed to make it to the finals, riding on the sublime form of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Ganguly is of the opinion that they can pull off something similar but for that, they need to fix their team combination.

The 44-year-old said, "It is not going to be easy, they have to find their form and play very very well but even last year they did not start well but then dominated the last 7-8 matches to make it to the final so it is a similar situation for them. 

"The good thing for them is that Virat Kohli looks in good touch but they are missing KL Rahul and missing the form of Gayle and Watson. They have to get their combination right and start playing differently because they are in a position like the Pune team where they do not want it to slip away too far that it becomes difficult for them. It is still early days in the IPL and all the teams are close and no team is too far ahead so RCB has time to get back", he added.

The rejuvenation work of the Chinnaswamy Stadium didn’t work in RCB's favour as the conditions have drastically changed from last year. 

"Virat Kohli has got to be careful because I do not think they are playing on a good surface at the Chinnaswamy stadium. They need to play on a good wicket because they are a power-packed side with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Kedar Jadhav so I don't think they can perform so poorly. It has not worked for them because they missed to many players at the start of the tournament and lost those games.”