Though Vijay Mallya is no longer the owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, some would say that the bad fortune that has befallen the liquor baron and India’s best known willful defaulter is reflecting on to the team that he once owned. As the former team owner was arrested in England and the possibility of his extradition to India is feverishly discussed, the fortunes of RCB seem to continue to plummet during the currently ongoing Indian Premier League's 10th edition. Match 29 on the 21st day of IPL 2017 was to have been Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad at Bengaluru on 25 April 2017. Here is what happened:
Rain in Bangalore ensured that the fixture was abandoned without a ball being bowled. As per the rules, in such cases, each team is awarded one point.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are sitting pretty at No 3 on the points table and they would not be too worried about having lost a chance at winning. In fact the team may have enjoyed the unexpected rest in the midst of a hectic tournament such as the IPL.
On the one hand, you could say that it was good for RCB that the match was a washout. Squaring off against the defending champions, they got a point where a loss would have got them nothing. This has helped the team scrape themselves off the bottom of the table, which on the face of it, is a good thing.
RCB had the home advantage and if they had capitalised on this, they would have made two points. It was the rain that took the decision out of everyone's hands and the Bangalore team now faces the prospect of perhaps having to win each of their remaining matches to make it to the playoffs. Having won only two of their eight matches so far, it may be that they have to win all six remaining matches to make it to the top four.
They are the perennial underachievers of the IPL. Reaching the finals three times (2009, 2011, 2016), RCB never won the title. The team has always had top line players, however, their showing has never reflected this stellar lineup. Currently, in Chris Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli, the team has, arguably, the most explosive and destructive batsmen in international cricket. And yet they have won only 2 out of their 8 matches so far.
RCB has the distinction of having scored the highest ever IPL total: 263/5 (against the then team Pune Warriors). However the team also has the highly dubious distinction of having scored the lowest ever total in IPL matches: all out for 49 in the 10th over. Fraught times ahead for RCB (and its former owner) it would seem.
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