IPL 2018: Biggest weakness of each franchise

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore- A weak lower middle order

Sarfaraz Khan will be hoping to justify his franchisee's faith in him

Having had stellar batsmen like Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their squads for many years now, the top order has never really been an issue for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The lower middle order has however, over the years, turned out to be their biggest foe. Despite having spent heavily on superstars such as Yuvraj Singh and Shane Watson, destiny hasn't really favored the Royal Challengers to overcome their lower middle order problems.

The biggest shocker of the 2018 pre-auctions was the retention of Sarfaraz Khan. He is set to be a part of the middle order, along with a few players like Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Mandeep Singh, Moeen Ali and Nathan Coulter-Nile. None of these players but Mandeep have any significant IPL batting experience. Mandeep was poor last season, managing to accumulate 188 runs in 11 games at a strike rate of just above 100.

We can only wait and watch whether the middle order batsmen will rise up to the challenge.