We are two matches away from the end of the 2016 IPL; it's been another season of exhilarating cricket combined with nerve-racking tension. Three teams have separated themselves from the pack with their impressive play, and after today's match they will be down to just two – the 2016 finalists.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, of course, have already booked a date in Sunday's final, having defeated Gujarat Lions in the qualifier earlier this week. While Virat Kohli experienced a rare failure in RCB's chase of 158, their other 'Superman' AB de Villiers came to the party, ensuring that his team maintained its winning run.
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If Chris Gayle doesn't get you, Kohli will. If Kohli doesn't get you, De Villiers will. And because Kohli and De Villiers have been in such spectacular form, the question of who will get you if they all fail hasn't even arisen lately.
With the final to be played in RCB's home ground, Kohli's men have put themselves in prime position to win the title; many consider them favourites to emerge as the champions when the last shot has been struck on Sunday. But does that mean they've set an example for all other teams to follow? Not in my book.
Dependence on 2-3 players is never healthy
It would be fair to say that RCB's batting has been all about two players this season. Even Gayle hasn't been too impressive; the bulk of the heavy lifting being done by Kohli and De Villiers. Kohli in particular has simply refused to give his wicket away, winning a couple of matches for his team almost single-handedly.
Because of this, the other players in the team have been reduced to an afterthought. There has been a lot of chopping and changing in the XI, with even their best bowler Yuzvendra Chahal being dropped for a couple of matches. The team combination has been far from settled, and the management has failed to show confidence in all the players.
When I was in the RCB side, our team meetings used to frequently consist of the leadership looking hard at players other than Gayle and De Villiers, asking them to step up. It is probably the same situation right now, with the management urging the players other than Kohli and De Villiers to put their hand up and contribute to the team cause.
Unfortunately for the team, that hasn't happened. But fortunately for them, Kohli and De Villiers have been so brilliant that they have eliminated the need for contributions from the other players.
That kind of approach may win you a title once in a blue moon. But it's not a sustainable strategy for the long-term; as good as Kohli and De Villiers are, even they are bound to fail sooner or later.
Compare that to a team like Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have had contributions from nearly every player in the squad. While initially it was David Warner who was carrying the team on his shoulders, the other players have really blossomed with each passing game.
Yuvraj Singh has done his bit with the bat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman have been exceptional with the ball, Shikhar Dhawan has been a calming influence at the top, and even Moises Henriques has contributed with both bat and ball. SRH may well end up with nothing to show for their season, but their approach has been both refreshing and inspiring this season.
Even if you look back at history, there have been champion sides like Chennai Super Kings, where there were around five or six players who made up the core of the team. Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Michael Hussey, MS Dhoni himself, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo – each was as important as the other, and it's no surprise that CSK made the playoffs in every season they played.
Even if their batting failed on occasion, Ashwin and Co were good enough to defend a total in the region of 140-150, and take the team to victory. And when the bowling failed, Raina and the rest were more than willing to make up for it. CSK were an inspiring team because they were well settled and had foolproof, tried-and-tested methods.
But how can the other teams look up to RCB's run as a source of inspiration, as something that they should aspire to? They don't have superhumans like Kohli or De Villiers in their team, after all. RCB's blueprint for success is not realistic.
Issues with bowling attack are yet to be addressed
RCB have been criticized over the years for their lack of bowling firepower. Although Mitchell Starc's arrival solved the issue to some extent, the over-dependence on him has again come back to bite the team now that he's out with injury.
Shane Watson has been useful with his medium pace this season, and Chahal has been tidy as always. But the rest of the bowlers have again struggled to restrict the opposition, with no assurance of their place in the side.
If everything is given to you on a platter, what is the point of having a captain and a coach? Anyone can win with superstars like Kohli, De Villiers, Gayle, Watson and Starc in the team. And now that Starc is not available, there are calls for RCB to invest in another foreign bowling spearhead, instead of moulding youngsters to take his place.
Buying new players is not the answer; it hardly ever is. You won't always get readymade match-winners. You need to create them too.
RCB's core problem – lack of an aggressive mindset while bowling – remains as stark as ever. They still look to contain the batsmen rather than attack them, and they are still content with conceding 160-170 because they know they have two batsmen who can chase down anything.
But will Kohli and De Villiers be able to keep chasing down anything, forever?
Very little faith shown in youngsters
On the one hand, you have a Delhi Daredevils team that is filled with uncapped Indian players who have little to no experience of playing on the big stage. Admittedly, that strategy didn't always work for them, as they stumbled at the last hurdle and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
But I'm sure that at the end of the day, a player like Karun Nair or Rishabh Pant would look back on the season with a sense of satisfaction. At least they were given the chance to contribute to the team cause – a chance that they grabbed with both hands.
Delhi's approach, while not infallible, takes a lot of effort and guts to execute. They didn't have any superhuman players in the team, but they ensured that their players competed as a team, and did the best that they could.
On the other hand, we have an RCB who have benched a prodigious talent like Sarfaraz Khan, ostensibly because he isn't quick enough in the field. This, despite the fact that Sarfaraz had whacked the purple cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar to all parts of the ground in the first RCB vs SRH game.
How will youngsters react to that kind of treatment? It's one thing to not be selected because there are better, more experienced players in the side. But it's devastating when you are dropped even after performing well.
The message that RCB's management is sending to the players is clear: if you are not named Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers, you are completely dispensable. And when all is said and done, that message will be conveyed to the cricket world at large too: this was a victory manufactured by just two players, and no one else in the team mattered.
There's a good chance that RCB will hold the IPL trophy aloft this Sunday. But to me, it wouldn't be a campaign worth emulating.
This article has been published on Mohammad Kaif's blog here.
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