IPL 2018: Five pre-tournament predictions gone wrong inside two weeks

RCB have finally found a solution to their bowling woes

After the IPL auctions earlier this year, an optimistic Virat Kohli stated that his bowling unit will take charge this season and will provide the much-needed answers to their weakest department till date. Many modern-day cricketing greats have played in the RCB colors over the years but it was their shambolic bowling performance season after season that has always pegged them back.

The RCB camp managed some great bowling picks in Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhome, Moeen Ali and Washington Sundar. Besides these, they had Yuzvendra Chahal and some talented youngsters like Kulwant Khejroliya, Mohammed Siraj, and Navdeep Saini to give a settled look to the bowling department. But after a little over two weeks and five matches in the tournament, the bowling still remains the biggest chink in the RCB armor. Barring Chahal (economy of 8.41), no other bowler has an economy rate of fewer than 8.5 runs per over. Umesh has performed in patches while Woakes has a worrisome economy rate of 10.36 runs per over. Southee and Moeen are still waiting for their chance to feature in the starting XI.

RCB bowlers have so far conceded more than 200 runs on two consecutive occasions while in the last match against Delhi they conceded 71 runs in the last five overs to help DD post a competitive total of 174 runs. These faults in their bowling unit highlight the fact that even a star-studded batting line-up like RCB can’t pay for their bowling generosities every time.