The Royal Challengers Bangalore had injury concerns even before the start of this year’s Tata IPL. Rajat Patidar, who came in as a replacement player for Luvnith Sisodia, showed glimpses of his talent by scoring a century (112) off 54 balls in the Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants, scoring at a strike rate of over 200 and remaining unbeaten right until the end to help RCB post a massive total on the board. At the start of the season, there was speculation that the batter might be available at some point during the tournament, but as it turns out, he was officially ruled out of IPL 2023, dealing a significant blow to RCB.
Reece Topley, a left-arm bowler for the team, also sustained an injury while bowling in the very first match of the season, adding to their injury worries. Topley was later declared ineligible for the Tata IPL 2023. The two of them were replaced by Vijaykumar Vyshak and Wayne Parnell.
Will RCB miss Rajat Patidar, their magnificent striker?
Rajat Patidar was RCB’s discovery of the Tata IPL 2022 season, and as a result of his stellar IPL performances, he received his first call-up to the Indian cricket team for a three-match ODI series against South Africa. Let’s examine his contribution while he was a player for RCB. He has scored 221 runs, averaging 44 per inning in the six innings where RCB came out on top, with a respectable strike rate of 159 and a dot percentage of about 29.
In contrast, in the five innings that RCB lost, his strike rate substantially decreases to about 130, along with his average, to just over 36. He also has a dot ball percentage of 35.5, which is higher than average, especially when playing in the T20 format. With a century (112) in the Quarter Final (Eliminator) against LSG, it is obvious how important Rajat Patidar was in assisting his team in crossing the finish line. In the batting unit, Rajat Patidar was the genuine impact player for RCB, and his absence due to injury was undoubtedly felt.
Reece Topley, RCB’s best death bowler?
Reece Topley was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore at the 2023 Auctions in an effort to put an end to their bowling conundrum in death overs. They had no idea that his time in the IPL would only last for one game. He has had a fair amount of success bowling in the powerplay, picking up 36% of his wickets (21) with an economy rate of under 8 runs per over. He has taken about 45% of his wickets (26) in the death overs phase with an amazing strike rate of just 8.2 and an average of 12.7. This implied that RCB had the option to utilise him both on the powerplay and at the end of the game. Reece Topley’s absence has once again brought attention to RCB’s weakness when bowling in the final few overs.
Conclusion
Topley was acquired by Royal Challengers for INR 1.9 crore (about £190,000), after entering the December auction with a starting price of INR 75 lakh (approximately £75,000). Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians both made offers for him. After Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar, he is the third member of the Royal Challengers to have an injury that will keep him from playing this season. To the point where we can have a different playing 11 for injured players, there have been several injury concerns for all the teams in the Tata IPL 2023 this season. This year, most teams are without their top players due to injuries that have kept them out of the game.