Kiru

@RCBxFCB @wrdgafidc Wouldn't mind Omarzai as well to replace Shepherd. Play him at 5 to attack spin and push David back to 7. Would be the perfect 6th bowler. Has more chance of being released than the other 2 discussed here

If C Bosch/Jansen are released we should grab one of them. Jansen is good vs spin so he can bat at 5. Ramandeep could be a good back-up too.

Football data editor at Opta, @michael_reid11: "We obviously have data for all the Premier League era, so from 1992-93 onwards, but Salah's records were so ridiculous that we realised we had to go beyond that. The amount of times we were doing stats and you'd try to put other players up on a leaderboard but Salah would be just there ahead of them. It would be just impossible to get a table where Salah wasn't above this player because he was so multifaceted. What we tried to do was get maybe two or three Salah records or stats lined up before every game. He got to a point where every time he gets a goal or assist, there's some sort of record he's breaking."

@18ViratKohli765 @shailesh18_ I mean, if he only has 5 bowling options, he has no other choice but to bowl them out. Surely he's not stupid enough to think a Venky Iyer over is better than Duffy/Krunal, right?

@shailesh18_ For this approach to work , rajat must trust krunal with lhb , duffy to bowl 4 This lineup is actually the best for dharamshala considering there was no major help for spin there and venky had a great outing there and some wind could give duffy a great day with ball as well

This should be our playing XII for Q1 and final (considering the fact that Salt is fully fit to play): Virat, Salt, DDP, Rajat, Venky, Tim David, Jitesh, Krunal, Rasikh, Bhuvi, Hazlewood and Duffy.

@dagiroxforever7 This should be it given the pitches we've seen at Dharamshala and Ahmedabad and given the matchups vs GT. Venky Iyer at 5 avoids a batting collapse against GT like the league game and also you don't really need 6 bowling options vs GT. 4 pacers + Krunal is the way to go.

An interesting selection conunderum for RCB will be what to do when Salt comes back. Venkatesh has put up an extremely strong case for keeping his place, which means RCB might revert to their XI from the KKR game, with Salt replacing Romario and maybe Duffy/Gleeson in for Suyash.

@dagiroxforever7 Agreed just worried about his consistency across games that's all

@kiru64__ He bowled quite well today imho, considering the surface & the matchups on offer.

Instead of Krunal, I would have been tempted to send Romario Shepherd up the order here. Let him have a bit of fun and throw his bat at things. If he gets a nice knock in, it's good signs for the playoffs. If not, no big loss for RCB,

@dagiroxforever7 Suyash last season played out of his skin and delivered big time but he's 22 and this season has been a lesson for him(at best). Hope Flower has seen enough to not go with him at least at Ahmedabad. Dharamshala too, even if he bowls well the ball travels easily.

@kiru64__ Yeah sure. Salt for Shepherd sounds nice, maybe Duffy/Suyash depending on conditions/

@dagiroxforever7 I'd prioritize Jitesh to get more balls over Romario as I wouldn't be surprised if RCB go with Duffy over Romario from next game onwards given Venky Iyer's returns. Would be criminal to drop him now i think given his Playoffs record as well.

@kiru64__ Not Jitesh; just Romario. If he gets out Krunal comes in. Best case he plays a handy cameo and we cross 166 faster. Worst case we are in almost the same situation as we are now.

@AadityaN_28 That Vaibhav buy and the guts to play him after Samson got injured alone is enough for Dravid to be a massive success at RR last season. Also, RR bottled 3 9 rpo in last 2 overs run chase. That's not on any coach.

So many replies to this dissing Dravid. All I'll say is I won't agree with any of the dissing. He's kept up with the times since 2016, and is a proper T20 coach. What happened to RR last season was a lot of bad luck too, with so many botched close chases.

So Rahul Dravid explored the possibility of coaching CSK after last season, and the franchise chose to stick with Fleming. It was a huge call, and this season has proved it hasn't worked. Interested to see if they go back to Dravid.

@RCBxFCB Yep, and top 2 looks even more likely although I'd like to finish 1st. Would play both Duffy and Gleeson along with Bhuvi and Rashikh and go with the same combination as the KKR game with Venky at 5. Straight competition between Duffy and Gleeson on who starts in playoffs.

@RCBxFCB So basically the margin of loss should be less than 75 runs if chasing or should bowl at least 12 overs if defending. Both pretty good for RCB but batting 1st the obvious choice for RCB. Batters bat without pressure and also we can front-load our best bowlers till 12 overs.

@Mick3yola @RCBxFCB Lol, Hazlewood is the first player who should be rested. He already looks tired and there's definitely fatigue with so much travel in last 3 weeks. Will be fresh for playoffs after a 10 day break like last year.

@RCBxFCB Hazlewood can play, Bhuvi must be rested

@SHIVAFF55878490 @shailesh18_ Something like RCB's huge win at Delhi has to be done by at least two of GT, SRH, RR and then RCB to lose really big vs SRH for them to miss out on top 2. So very unlikely. RR losing today and SRH losing tomorrow would officially seal top 2 for RCB.

@shailesh18_ Its impossible to cross our nrr for any other two teams from gt,srh rr??What would be the scenario?

With today's win, we have now secured top-2 spot and can enjoy the remaining 9 league games without having to worry about scenarios of which teams win or lose and how it's gonna benefit us. Thank you for changing our lives, Boss Andy. NGL, not used to these things...🤣

@RCBxFCB That Jitesh brainfade wicket vs Prince was genuinely where we lost and we still could've won if Shepherd could just out bat on ball vs Digvesh. Jitesh did a similar brainfade vs Borsch too. Needs fixing that

@kyabaathaiai @dagiroxforever7 Q1 is in Dharamshala as well. So a top 2 finish would likely mean this is going to be the combination for the rest of the season as thr final is in Ahmedabad too, where Duffy would be much more effective than Suyash.

@dagiroxforever7 I believe with duffy coming in they're also settled for atleast next 3 matches(dharamsala, Hyderabad and mullanpur(Q1). Because all three grounds doesn't majorly need spin, might get wrong at mullanpur though

I'm interested to see if RCB stick with Venky/Duffy over Rom/Suyash for the next games too, or if it is a one-off thing w/conditions in mind. I am not 100% convinced by Venkatesh at 5, but Duffy taking the new ball lets Rajat be creative with Hoff's overs, bit like last year.

@Jeetv27 Yep. The thinking must have been simple. It's very unfair to keep someone of Venky Iyer's ability out on the bench when you have 3 non-performing batters in the 12 and Shepherd was the biggest.

@kiru64__ Yeah, Shepherd's lack of returns in both facets were at some stage going to go against him.

I must admit that I am a 'little' surprised to see RCB leave out Romario Shepherd and add Jacob Duffy. I agree that Shepherd's been shit this IPL, but the Raipur surface was the only surface where he found success & turned out to be very effective.

@ErikaMorris79 @rajupp I mean, when you bring in Duffy, he can take the new ball with Bhuvi and Hazlewood takes up Rashikh's role of defensive bowling in PP and bowl more in middle and death. Hazlewood defensive bowling in middle and death > Rashikh

@rajupp No, we need Rasikh in middle and death

I usually try not to react emotionally in the heat of games. I prefer to reflect, look at things objectively and separate performance from narrative. And honestly, I’ve defended Romario Shepherd all season. In many games I felt like one of the few people doing it #RCB Yesterday, with the ball, was genuinely his best performance of the season. RCB finally used him correctly. The timings of his overs suited the match situation, his confidence visibly grew spell by spell and for the first time in a while he looked clear in what he was trying to do. He finished as our second most economical bowler, hit disciplined lines consistently and was the only bowler in the side not to concede an extra. That’s the frustrating part. Because while the bowling showed signs of a player rebuilding confidence, the batting showed the exact opposite. He looked burdened. Like a player carrying every criticism, every expectation and every failure into the middle with him. The freedom and swagger that make Romario dangerous just aren’t there right now. And in a league as brutal as the IPL, perception quickly becomes pressure. So the question becomes: what changes can RCB realistically make? ⤵️

@ErikaMorris79 Why not combine option 1 and 2?Bring in Venky Iyer and Duffy instead of Shepherd and Rashikh. It's almost the perfect solution. Iyer bats at 4/5 rotating with Patidar and David back to 7. Duffy takes new ball with Bhuvi which takes pressure off Hazlewood in PP.

Here’s the core issue , #RCB don’t actually have another Romario Shepherd. There isn’t another pace-bowling all-rounder in the squad who can bat at 7, clear the ropes instantly and still give you seam overs. Every replacement solves one problem while creating another. 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭 Bring in Venkatesh Iyer A lot of fans are pushing for this. And batting-wise, the numbers at No.7 are actually closer than people think. Venky strikes at 164.1 compared to Romario’s 162.1. But context matters. Romario has done it across 72 innings. Venky has done it only 4 times. The bigger concern is bowling. Venky has barely bowled since 2024 and when he did, he went at 10.22 an over. Romario, despite criticism, still gives you a genuine seam option even if his economy this season sits at 12.09. So while Venky may strengthen the batting mentally, he weakens the overall balance structurally.

@Im__Arfan He's being wasted as an opener. Anywhere is 3 to 5 would be much easier for him. DK gets praised a lot but our batting strategy is the reason for all our losses.

So disappointed with Bethell. Should've delivered in one game atleast.