3 Key Reasons Behind RCB's Turnaround in the Second Half of the IPL

One of the most celebrated franchises and a franchise with a huge fan base. Royal Challengers Bengaluru had a very miserable start in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was on the brink of an exit from the tournament as they had lost 7 matches out of the first 8 games they played in the tournament, including 6 consecutive defeats.

But what happened from April 25 onwards was something that nobody would have expected and it was the start of RCB’s dramatic turnaround and an unbelievable comeback in the second half of the tournament. It was RCB’s second win in the tournament when they defeated SRH by 35 runs in the 41st match of the tournament. Following that, they have registered 5 consecutive wins so far and kept their hopes alive in contention for the playoff stage of the tournament.

With that said, here we’ll have a look at the 3 key reasons behind RCB's turnaround in the second half of the IPL 2024.

Here’s a look at 3 Key Reasons Behind RCB’s dramatic turnaround in IPL 2024:

Rajat Patidar is back in form and taking spinners to cleaners

RCB’s star middle-order batter Rajat Patidar was struggling with a poor run of form in the first 7 innings of the 7 matches he had played for his side. He scored only 161 runs in 7 innings with a below-par average of 23.0 and only 2 half-centuries in the first half, with a strike rate of 161.0, hitting 9 fours and 13 sixes.

His form in the 4 innings he batted out of RCB’s 5 consecutive wins has excelled to an amazing extent. Patidar has scored 159 runs in the last 4 innings with an amazing average of 39.8 and a sensational strike rate of 203.8, hitting 3 half-centuries. Especially against right-arm spinners, he has smashed runs with an outstanding strike rate of 346.7, scoring 52 runs off just 15 balls, the last 2 innings by taking them to the cleaners, hitting 8 sixes in just 15 balls.

RCB somewhere got its right bowling combination

Decoding the performances of RCB’s bowlers in the first 8 matches and last 5 matches, there’s a huge difference in their outings. In the first 8 matches, RCB bowlers could scalp only 34 wickets, with an expensive economy rate of 10.76 and a strike rate of 26.50, failing to bundle out any team even in one match as they had the best performance of scalping 6 wickets at the cost of 174 runs in an innings during the first half.

In the second, the RCB management somehow managed to get their right bowling combination, including a mix of both pace and spin. In the last 5 consecutive wins of RCB, the bowlers have played a major part as they have scalped 41 wickets in just 5 innings with a good economy rate of 8.77 and a strike rate of 14.00, taking 10 wickets in a match on 3 occasions with the best performance of taking 10 wickets at the cost of just 139 runs. They also bowled 220 dot balls in the last 5 innings.

Will Jacks’ destructive batting and Green getting his form back

The young England batter Will Jacks has stunned everyone with his destructive and blistering batting approach in the last approach, which has also played a crucial role in RCB’s last 5 consecutive wins. Jacks has scored 230 runs in the last 8 innings he has played for RCB, with an amazing average of 38.3 and a strike rate of 175.6, hitting a century and a half-century.

Besides Will Jacks, the comeback of the star all-rounder Cameron Green in his amazing form has also been a sigh of relief for RCB, especially in the second half of the tournament. Green has scored 116 runs in the last 4 innings with an amazing average of 58.00, going not-out on 2 occasions, hitting 11 fours and 3 sixes.