IPL 2018: Three teams which might not qualify for the Playoffs

#2 Royal Challengers Bangalore

The same old story

Every year, before the start of the season, the Royal Challengers from Bangalore assemble a batting line-up that is the envy of the cricket world. This year too, with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum, and Quinton de Kock, RCB boast of an enviable line-up. But as they often say, it is the right team combinations and balance that transforms a team into a champion unit.

In the four matches that RCB has played, it is pretty clear that they are too dependent on their top-order in Kohli, de Villiers and de Kock, and lack quality lower-order finishers coupled with a dearth of death-bowling options.

While Umesh Yadav has been outstanding in the powerplay, going at 3.75 runs per over, he falls off the rails equally drastically. Umesh's economy in his third and fourth spells is 8.67 and 15.75 per over respectively, and with RCB's bowling conceding 200 plus totals in the last two matches, the problem may lead to catastrophic events as far their campaign is concerned.