El Pupas - the jinxed ones, a moniker attributed to Atletico Madrid for their repeated failures to capture glory at the highest level, often marked my moments of ridiculously varying luck. Or as Indians would call it, panauti. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Spanish football outfit and Royal Challengers Bangalore don the same red colour, for few teams can claim to be as formidable yet long for trophies as the duo. In the modern era itself, Atletico went on a 14-year drought before finally claiming a title in 2010. Could 15 be the lucky number for the Bangalorean side as well? Or as the fans would ask, E saala cup namde?

The side, despite lacking the calibre of batters they have boasted of in the past such as Chris Gayle and franchise legend AB de Villiers, enjoyed quite a fruitful season with the willow. If one ignores their shambolic 68 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad – a trademark RCB breakdown out of the blue – the team had the highest first-innings total across all eight franchises with a staggering 184.25. In seven of their nine innings batting first, the side piled on totals over 170 – the most for any team in IPL 2022. In fact, RCB were the only side to have five batters with over 300 runs in the season, namely Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell. In Karthik, the franchise found an unsung hero with an average of 55 and an astronomical strike rate of 183.33, the wicket-keeper batter almost singlehandedly winning several tight run-chases for RCB.

The bowling was not too shabby either. RCB were one of two teams to have conceded an average first innings score under 170, only bettered by the Punjab Kings. This success could largely be attributed to a middle-overs clinic by the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Glenn Maxwell. While the former two managed sub-seven economies and a combined 28 wickets in the period, Maxwell conceded runs at 7.46 between overs 7 and 15 while also scalping three wickets. All in all, Bangalore conceded the least runs in the nine-over timeframe while also taking the most wickets.

However, whatever good they managed in the middle usually only acted as compensation for the damage inflicted on them in the remaining 11 overs of the game. Starting with the powerplay, RCB were the only side to concede over 50 runs on average during the powerplay while also dismissing the least number of batsmen in the period – a paltry 19 across 16 games. A lot of it was down to Mohammed Siraj’s historically poor season as he became only the third bowler in T20 history to concede at over 10 an over throughout a tournament when bowling over 50 overs. His economy of 13.27 in the death didn’t help either while the misfiring Josh Hazlewood further compounded their problems, the Aussie quick also going at over 10 an over in the death. Overall, RCB conceded the third most runs on average in the final five overs and were only saved the blushes by Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants.

The batting had several pitfalls as well but it is imperative to dissect the team’s season into two sections for the sake of a fair analysis – pre and post-Anuj Rawat. The opener, slotted in alongside Faf du Plessis, had a terrible campaign, only managing 129 runs in eight matches while striking at under 110. As long as the duo were opening the innings, RCB averaged just 23.38 runs for the first wicket which was the second-worst record in the tournament after the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, once Virat Kohli replaced Rawat up the order, the average jumped up to over 30 – still only good enough to place them sixth on the list but a market improvement nevertheless. The team also increased its average powerplay score by a significant eight runs in the powerplay after the switch, taking the team from the last rank in the metric in the first half of the season to an impressive fourth in the second half.

Thus, identifying all such shortcomings from the previous season, RCB were expected to draft a specialist top-order batter as well as world-class pacers for both starting and finishing off the innings. However, the team also had to consider the huge change in dynamics of the team heading into the new season – Virat Kohli had shown signs of returning to his best, Mohammed Siraj had broken through as a white-ball menace on the international arena, Siddharth Kaul had a chart-topping Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign, Rajat Patidar was declared as unavailable for the entire season, singing Will Jacks had to be replaced by Michael Bracewell due to an injury, while Josh Hazlewood’s fitness remains a question mark. Add to that the uncertainty of Dinesh Karthik replicating a career-defining season, and few can predict how the team would approach things in the upcoming season.

The introduction of the Impact Player rule makes matters even more complicated, especially given the context of the returning home-away format for the 2023 season of the IPL. Having been played at neutral venues for the last three seasons, the league’s return to Chinnaswamy is bound to have far-reaching consequences for the home side, given the unrelenting flat nature of the track. 

Here are all the aspects of the Impact Player rule explained in detail for IPL 2023

All in all, the Royal Challengers Bangalore would have to make some bold calls if they are to have any chance of success in IPL 2023. They have persisted with Mohammed Siraj for long, despite him consistently being one of the worst bowlers in the tournament across several seasons. The unavailability of their superstars would also require great shuffling with the fate of Josh Hazlewood still unknown. There is no denying the team has all the resources to make their campaign a blockbuster one and finally claim that elusive crown. But, to achieve that dream, all eleven players will have to deliver come what may, with the likes of Virat Kohli and Wanindu Hasaranga responsible for helping make the team that final jump from potentially world-class to world-beaters.