Chahal thinks seniors like Virat Kohli can’t be blamed for RCB’s poor performance

The absence of silverware for Royal Challengers Bangalore, despite having a star-studded line- up, was often attributed to their toothless bowling attack. 

However, this year it was the collective batting performance that let them down. World class batsmen like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers too underperformed by their standards but RCB's young spinner Yuzvendra Chahal thinks that the big players shouldn't bear the brunt for the team’s dismal performance.

RCB managed to bag just seven points from 14 games, eventually being the first ones to be knocked-out from the tournament at the group stages and finishing at the bottom of the table. 

"Why should they be blamed? They are the world class players. These three took RCB to the final last season. If you see their records, that says it all. They are the best in the world. All I want to say is, it was a bad season for us. We will come back hard next season," Chahal told NDTV in an interview.

"Our batting didn't click. Last year we made it to the final because of our batting. This time, our batting didn't click so the performance dipped badly. Our bowling and fielding departments were really good," Chahal said.

He showered praise on the franchise’s skipper who motivated them despite a terrible show this campaign. Virat Kohli himself had a forgettable outing which started with an injury, ruling him out for the initial four matches. Apart from that, he managed to gather only 308 runs in the rest of the games which were a far cry from the 973 runs he managed last year. 

"We were all disappointed on not making to the Play-offs. But, our captain Virat came to everyone's rooms, motivated us and asked to give our best in the remaining matches. He asked us to play for our fans and pride. We are proud that we have a captain like him," Chahal, who claimed 14 wickets in 13 matches, said.

The Indian leg-spinner is remembered for his brilliant spell that helped India secure a 75-run victory over England in the third T20 International last year with match-winning figures of 6/25, becoming the first Indian bowler to pick up a 5-wicket haul in T20Is. However, the RCB bowler was not considered for selection in the Champions Trophy, despite his own performance and the dominance of leg spinners in the shorter formats. In spite of that, he was positive about his chances with the national team in the future.

“Honestly, I didn't expect my call-up. I was just playing my game and will continue giving my best. Rest will be taken care by selectors. If they think, I am good enough, they will take me in. Champions Trophy is a very big stage and there will be lot more opportunities for me in the coming future”, he concluded.

Did you know, Sourav Ganguly is one of the only five cricketers to have achieved the unique treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets & 100 catches in ODI cricket.

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