IPL 2024: ‘They repeatedly make mistakes’ - Harbhajan slams Kohli-starrer RCB, points out areas of concerns

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed the Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru(RCB) franchise following their poor start in IPL 2024. The three-time runners-up have lost two out of three games and are at the ninth spot in the points table. Harbhajan feels they often make mistakes in terms of selecting their team for the season and pointed out that their bowling needs a lot of work.

In an interaction on Star Sports, Harbhajan stated, "They repeatedly make mistakes in the team they pick. They invest heavily in batting and that too foreign. They take mighty overseas batters but bowling has always been their weakness. It's the case now also and it's evident as well."

Harbhajan -- who was part of the Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp during his active days in the IPL -- further highlighted RCB's bowling woes after their seven-wicket loss to KKR in match 10 on March 29, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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Being asked to bat first, the RCB franchise rode on Virat Kohli's 59-ball 83 to post 182 for 6 on a good batting track. Given Chinnaswamy's reputation of being a batting paradise, for its shorter boundaries, the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata franchise chased it down in 16.5 overs after a flourishing start from Sunil Narine (22-ball 47) and Venkatesh Iyer's 50.

Harbhajan further pointed out, "Whether you bat first or second, you will still have to bat well to get 180, and 180 should be a winning total. Your mindset is that 180 will be chased. How will they be chased? The opposing team will have to score them." He added, "f you bowl enough good balls, you will still be able to get those people out. No matter who is playing, whether it's (Andre) Russell or anyone else batting against you, a good ball is a good ball. The bowlers will have to change their mindset slightly. Try to pick up wickets instead of trying to survive by bowling a decent over."

RCB play host to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in match 15 of the ongoing edition on Tuesday evening (April 2). They will be desperate to add two more points to their tally.

Royal Challengers Bangalore full squad:Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar (Traded), Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green (Traded), Alzarri Joseph,Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan