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Former Indian batter Ambati Rayadu hailed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for their win over Mumbai Indians (MI), saying that he enjoys the franchise's brand of cricket and it could be very well RCB's year to win the title.
RCB continues to change narratives and breach fortresses this year as after massive wins over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at their homes, they defeated MI at Wankhede Stadium for the first time in a decade, getting their third win in four matches this season. Speaking as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Rayadu highlighted how sorted out RCB is terms of their combinations while other teams are struggling. "If you look at their team, they have a pretty set combination," Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show. "If you see the teams that are not doing well in the IPL, they are still trying their combinations. But RCB is one team, along with Delhi [Capitals (DC) and Punjab [Kings (PBKS)] to some extent, who have got their combinations well set for the season," he added. Rayadu also said that he enjoys RCB's brand of cricket and they are made fun of only because they have a team that can win the IPL but fall short because of their shortcomings. "I have always enjoyed their [RCB's] cricket. We have fun at their expense, only because nobody talks about DC or Punjab. Only because RCB always has a team that can win the IPL. But somehow, they come short because of their own shortcomings. Nobody else defeats them, it's them. But this year, with [Rajat] Patidar [as captain], ee sala cup RCB de (this year the cup is RCB's)," he concluded. Coming to the match, MI won the toss and opted to field first. Though Phil Salt departed early, Virat (67 in 42 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) and Devdutt Padikkal (37 in 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) made sure MI regretted their decision as they put on a counter-attacking 91-run stand. After the dismissal of this duo, skipper Rajat Patidar (64 in 32 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Jitesh Sharma (40* in 19 balls, with two fours and four sixes) made sure that the run-rate never went down. RCB ended at 221/5. Hardik Pandya (2/45), the skipper and Trent Boult (2/57) took two wickets but leaked runs. Vignesh Puthur got a wicket as well. Jasprit Bumrah delivered figures of 0/29 in four overs on his comeback. During the run-chase, MI was 99/4 in 12 overs. But an explosive 89 run stand between Tilak Varma (56 in 29 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) and skipper Hardik Pandya (42 in 15 balls, with three fours and four sixes) threatened to take the game away from RCB. However, Krunal (4/45), Josh Hazlewood (2/37) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/48) came in clutch with crucial wickets at right times, helping secure RCB a 12-run win. (ANI)
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