IPL 2020: How Royal Challengers Bangalore can iron out their batting line-up issues

Royal Challengers Bangalore, the perennial underachievers of the IPL, had yet another disastrous season in 2019. The team won just five of 14 matches and remained at the bottom of the points table.

Also see – Ranji points table

There were numerous reasons for their lackluster season, but a couple of them were the constant failures of their middle-order batsman and fast-bowlers. For four seasons now, Virat Kohli has opened the innings for the Challengers. With that, RCB have been a great batsman short in the middle-order. In addition to that, their prominent buys in the 2019 auction, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshdeep Nath, and Shivam Dube failed to perform as middle-order batsmen. When the duo of Kohli and AB de Villiers were unable to deliver, the rest of the batting line-up often collapsed.

It's high time that RCB address these issues and with a new think tank in place, we might see a change in auction strategy this year.

On that note, here is how the RCB can solve their batting issues.

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#2 Signing an opener in the auction, Virat Kohli returns to playing No. 3

Virat Kohli has regularly been opening for RCB since 2016.

In the upcoming player auction, the franchise could be on the lookout for a foreign opening batsman. Aaron Finch and Jason Roy are among the specialist opening batsmen who are up for grabs.

The inclusion of one of these batsmen will work well with Parthiv Patel at the top of the order. With this, Virat Kohli could move to number 3 where he can control the game better. AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube could complete a well-rounded middle order.

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#1 Get Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan

If the franchise want Virat Kohli to continue as an opening batsman, then they will need to buy an experienced T20 batsman to slot into the middle order. Eoin Morgan can be an appropriate pick for the No.4 position.

The World Cup-winning captain has proved his ability to change the flow of the game in the recently concluded five-match T20 series against New Zealand. Morgan scored 192 runs at an extraordinary strike-rate of 193.93 and helped England to seal the series. His addition would indicate that Moeen and Dube would hold No.5 and No.6 positions, respectively.

In one of these ways, RCB can add experience and intensity to their batting line-up.

RCB also lack a decent finisher. Someone like Yusuf Pathan is available in the auction, and the franchise should try to purchase him to add a hard-hitting batsman and finisher to their batting department. Yusuf can be a decent pick to replace Dube if he gets injured or disappoints.