- Monday, April 29, 2024
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which feature star batter Virat Kohli, on April 15 slumped to their sixth defeat in seven matches and are in danger of finishing a poor last in this year’s edition.
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi could not hide his frustration over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that represents his city of residence Bengaluru, losing yet another match in the tournament on Monday (15) after conceding the most runs ever in its history.
He urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to sell the franchise to a new owner that would build it from scratch like many other teams in the tournament have done. Bhupathi requested the board to take the step for the sake of the game, tournament, fans and even the players.
“For the sake of the Sport, the IPL, the fans and even the players I think BCCI needs to enforce the Sale of RCB to a new owner who will care to build a sports franchise the way most of the other teams have done so,” the 49-year-old, who won 12 Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles, wrote on X and hash-tagged #tragic.
Read: Records shower as Hyderabad beat Bengaluru by 25 runs in IPL run feast
For the sake of the Sport , the IPL, the fans and even the players i think BCCI needs to enforce the Sale of RCB to a New owner who will care to build a sports franchise the way most of the other teams have done so. #tragic
— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) April 15, 2024
RCB, led by former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, have struggled in the tournament and could win just one game out of seven to perish at the bottom of the points table. They also have a net run rate of -1.185 and would have to produce miracles to make the playoffs, which they last reached in 2022.
Read: IPL: Travis Head-s Hyderabad to 287, the highest team score ever
Bengaluru have not won the tournament even despite playing since the inaugural edition in 2008, along with Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) and Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab). They reached the final three times but finished as the second best on all occasions. They came the closest in 2016 but lost the title round to Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight runs.
On Monday, they were mauled once again by Hyderabad, this time in a run feast. Bengaluru conceded 287 runs in 20 overs after electing to bowl and went down fighting valiantly to lose by 25 runs. The team has quite a few big names in its line-up, including Virat Kohli but it has failed to deliver as a unit.
The United Spirits Limited are the current owners of RCB after fugitive Indian businessman Vijay Mallya served as the team owner from 2008 until 2016.
RCB next play Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in a must-win game on Sunday (21).
