'RCB didn't deserve to be in IPL 2023 playoffs': Faf du Plessis on Bengaluru's elimination

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost to defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) by six wickets in match 70 of IPL 2023 as they failed to make it to the playoffs. The Faf du Plessis-led Bengaluru franchise won and lost seven games each and finished in the sixth position. A win would have taken them to the playoffs, however, they failed to defend 197 for 5, despite Virat Kohli's 61-ball 101*, as Gujarat opener Shubman Gill's unbeaten 104 took his side to a stunning six-wicket win in the last over.

After yet another failed IPL season, RCB's ardent fans were left heartbroken whereas captain Faf reflected on his side's overall campaign and admitted that they didn't deserve to end the league stage in the top-four.

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'We don't deserve to be in the playoffs'

"It is difficult as we had high hopes for the last game. We knew that we were playing a strong team tonight. After the momentum of the last two games, we were really looking forward to running into the playoffs with some good form behind us. Coming into a game against a top side like GT, you have to be on top of your own game," Du Plessis said in a video shared on RCB's official Twitter handle.

Faf asserted, "We weren't far off. Shubman Gill played an unbelievable knock to get a hundred. It is disappointing that our season ended here, but we had some real positives in the form of Maxi this year. Virat was incredible. The partnerships between me and Virat were incredible and that consistency was remarkable." He added, "Siraj had a great campaign. There were also areas where we were consistently not great. If we look at ourselves, we will be honest in saying that we weren't one of the best teams in the competition. We were lucky that there were some really good performances throughout, but as a whole, we don't deserve to be in the playoffs. We tried hard tonight but fell short."

From RCB's perspective, Faf (730 runs) and Kohli (639 runs) ended at the first and third spot in the Orange Cap list whereas Glenn Maxwell also ended with 400 runs. Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with 19 scalps.