Can Kohli improve his abysmal IPL captaincy record?

A SWOT analysis of Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of IPL 2020

The kind of squads Royal Challengers Bangalore have had over the years, it’s shocking that they haven’t made it beyond the league stage for six of the twelve Indian Premier League seasons thus far. Some of the biggest names of the T20 format -- Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul -- have played for them and have given some great individual performances, but they have failed as a team. The fact that they have not made it to the play-offs in the last three consecutive seasons is a big blot on Kohli’s captaincy. But this is 2020, and some unprecedented things have happened so far, so who knows this might just be Kohli’s year.

Strengths: When you have Kohli, Aaron Finch and de Villers in the batting unit you should be confident of winning most T20 games. Add to that the experience of Parthiv Patel and the youth of Shivam Dube and Devdutt Padikkal, and what you get is a formidable batting unit. However, in the past, the strength on paper hasn’t translated into performance on the field.

Weaknesses: Kohli lacks a bowler who he can throw the ball to at any point during the game and expect a wicket. The likes of Chris Morris, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini or Umesh Yadav are good but not reliable in pressure situations. There is also no reputed hitter lower down the order. Now Dube is no Andre Russell or Hardik Pandya!

Opportunities: The season is a huge opportunity for Karnataka’s Padikkal. The 20-year old has had a bright start to his domestic career and will be looking to perform under the IPL limelight. If he can find his form, it will be a huge help for Kohli in terms of having a good domestic batsman in the top half of the line-up. Opportunity is also there for Yadav as a good show here might keep him in the mix for the two T20 World Cups in the next two years.

Threats: Kohli’s record as captain in the IPL is abysmal. A lot of blame for RCB finishing 8th, 6th and 8th in the last three seasons has to be put on his leadership. A lot of times he looked helpless as his bowlers went for runs or batsmen gave away the game. His individual performances have been excellent but he has not been able to make use of the available resources as a leader. He is someone who hates losing and surely will be looking to better the record this season.

Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, Aaron Finch, Joshua Philippe, Dale Steyn, Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Chris Morris, Pawan Negi, Parthiv Patel, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pavan Deshpande, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Moeen Ali

Support staff: Mike Hesson (Director of cricket operations), Simon Katich (Head coach), Adam Griffith (Bowling coach), Sridharan Sriram (Batting and spin-bowling coach)

Royal Challengers Bangalore prepares for IPL 2020