ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU (RCB) are one of the most popular sides of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but remain one of the three sides that have never won the trophy since inception. The current season has proved to be a disastrous one as the team has lost seven of their eight games and are lagging at the end of the table.
In their last game, Faf du Plessis's side slumped to a one-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which shows that their confidence is not at its best either. One of RCB's major concerns remains their bowling while their batting too hasn't clicked collectively. Barring Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik, none of the other batters have delivered in the competition.
On Thursday (25), Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), one of the in-form sides this season which also blasted a mammoth total of 287 against the same opponents in their previous meeting in Bengaluru.
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Currently, making the playoffs look a distant dream for Bengaluru but arithmetically, they could still make it.
With just two points from eight outings and having a below-par net run rate of -1.046, Bengaluru now need to win all their remaining six matches comprehensively so that they can climb the ladder and improve their NRR significantly to pip at least six teams.
But RCB would also have to pray that results of the other matches also go in their favour.
Read: Bengaluru lose 6 matches on the trot as Kolkata snatch 1-run win
Among the top four teams at the moment, Rajasthan Royals are on 14 points from eight games while KKR, SRH and Lucknow Super Giants are on 10 points each. These three teams need two wins each in their remaining six or seven games to make it to 14, the maximum that RCB can gain now. Difficult is an understatement for this to happen as the top four teams are in good rhythm while for RCB, winning even one game with their current form looks challenging.
The RCB finished last in two IPL seasons before this -- in the 2017 and 2019 editions. They made the playoffs in 2020, 2021 and 2022 but slumped to the sixth position out of 10 teams in 2023.
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