IPL 2018 | Winner and losers ft. RCB fans, KKR, and Sarfaraz Khan

Winners 

However, that is not where the good news ends for KKR fans today because they can dream even  higher. If things go their way over the next day, they could even be playing SRH in the qualifier for a spot in the final. However, this would require them to beat SRH today and hope that Chennai lose to Punjab tomorrow. If even one of the games has a win by a big margin, KKR are almost guaranteed a place in the qualifier.

Going into the game, Royal Challengers Bangalore were touted as the favourites for the match. While RCB’s three-match winning streak played a big part in making up the fans’ mind, the absence of Jos Buttler meant that most people did not give the 2008 Champions too much hope. It was simply down to the fact that the Englishman had scored 548 runs at an average of 54.80 in his 13 matches. Not only were they running out of international players but “Klaasy” ones as well. 

Klaasen had already announced himself as a player who could be a part of the South African side, post the AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, and Hashim Amla, during India’s tour of South Africa. Today, he just turned up and played the starring role in RR’s magnificent win over RCB. After scoring a quickfire 32 off just 21 balls to guide the hosts to a respectable target, he played a part in four RCB dismissals. After stumping Parthiv, de Villiers, and Mandeep, he pulled off a blinder to send Sarfaraz packing as well. If he can have a good year on the international circuit, RR have a real headache as far as the wicketkeeping position is concerned next year.

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 12th man

There is an odd similarity between Royal Challengers Bangalore and South African cricket. Both of them enter every tournament as one of the favourites. They are laden with stars that would walk into any other team. But when D-Day finally arrives, none of them are able to stand up and deliver. But that is something that is not new to RCB fans. 

Sarfaraz Khan

When RCB announced their three retained players, most fans were shocked that the final name on the list was not KL Rahul, who had been a major reason for the run to the final in 2016. It wasn’t even Yuzvendra Chahal who had replaced Ashwin as the main spinner in the limited overs Indian side. It was to everyone’s surprise, Sarfaraz Khan! The only logic behind the decision had to be the fact that by retaining an uncapped Indian player, RCB had managed to save some more money for the auction due to Kohli’s high salary, ie 17 crores.