2 weeks ago
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The Mumbai Indians came back to their original best in match 25 of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, April 11. Against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, in what was thought would be an intense battle between two rivals, proved to be one-sided as the hosts won the match comfortably by seven wickets with 27 deliveries to spare.
First, Jasprit Bumrah dominated with the ball throughout the contest, going at next to nothing while clinching half the side, and later on, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav made a mockery of RCB’s bowling, belting them to all parts of the ground, securing the team their second win of the season, in what seems to be a season gradually coming back on track for the five-time winners.
Also Read: IPL 2024: Dinesh Karthik completes 150 sixes, 450 fours
Here are the three changes Royal Challengers Bengaluru should make to get back to winning ways
1) Play Dinesh Karthik up the order
The long-serving veteran Dinesh Karthik, having played his third substantial knock in this season's IPL, has to be pushed up the order, maybe at No. 4 or 5, for him to face the maximum number of deliveries. With him proving his mettle against the Chennai Super Kings, the Punjab Kings, and the Mumbai Indians with scores of 38, 28*, and 53*, it's more than clear that he's still got it in him with respect to closing down matches with a bang.
2) Try out Tom Curran instead of misfiring Glenn Maxwell
With Glenn Maxwell having a horrid time with the bat and the ball throughout the tournament, including registering a third duck in six games in IPL 2024, it's high time the management of RCB consider experimenting with Tom Curran, who, despite being a bowling all-rounder might prove to be a worthwhile performer for RCB, being more than capable with the bat to come down the order and strike a few lusty blows, as well as possessing a deadly yorker, which could prove to be a lethal weapon in RCB's diminished arsenal as far as their death-bowling is concerned.
3) Inject pace into the attack by bringing in Lockie Ferguson for Reece Topley
Apart from the spell against the Rajasthan Royals, the left-arm pacer from England has been rather expensive, going at 9.75 and 11.33 against the games against the Lucknow Super Giants and the Mumbai Indians, respectively. It'd be but right for RCB to relieve a pacey gun like Ferguson from warming the benches and incorporate him into the mix, especially in light of him having excellent outings in the three and two T20Is he featured against Pakistan and Australia, respectively, picking up 10 wickets in the five games as well as going at a miserly 5.75 rpo as his average economy rate.
Also Read: WATCH: Rohit Sharma engages in hilarious on-field banter with Dinesh Karthik, video goes viral
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