First week in IPL

Are we still in Contention for the cup? Of course...

is there a problem? I don't think so. Until we are past the midway stage in the tournament we are ok. Peeking at the right moment is always important. I think,  even though we are at the bottom,  RCB is still the team to watch out in the league.

Obviously the fielding needs to be improved. Its not even close to being professional. I feel everyone is trying too much, especially the uncapped players in the side. We just need to relax and play to our strengths.

We still have a long/strong batting line up that everyone in the league envy but I think the batting order needs to be corrected a little bit. The opening partnerships are not happening. Having Gayle in the side should ease pressure on Dilshan. I'm pretty sure the next game @Eden Gardens would be a cracker.

Chateshwar Pujara is not batting at the right place. Him taking guard after Saurabh Tiwary seems odd. CP cannot accelerate from the word go, he needs some time to settle (I mean he is our Rahul Dravid ). Ray, give him a chance and promote him up the order. You will see he could do wonders.

Our batting order for the next game:

Gayle, Dilshan, CP, AB, Kohli, Tiwary, Asad/Mayank …

Either that or Keep Gayle and Tiwary combo together for a real push at the end. I kind of like that Mumbai has Symonds/Pollard, Deccan has Christian/White batting down the order. Having 2 hard hitters in a combination could prove vital as we progress in the tournament.

Actually our bowling has been good throughout the tournament, we did not have the good fielding to back it up. Its unfortunate that Dirk's gone but Zaheer, Vettori, Dilshan, Gayle, Asad is a decent bowling attack. Not the greatest but still good. Mithun has not lived up to  expectations but like I said he needs to settle down and think that he is a good bowler.

Trying Virat once in a while is a good option but not when there are 2 solid batsman batting at the other end. He will get pummeled. It is a little weird that Dirk was replaced by Gayle but hey don't forget Gayle is an all-rounder . Spin might prove vital at Kolkata and at different  places in the country. We are seeing that the spinners are doing really well in this edition of IPL. Vettori's bowling has been superb.

I really wanted to see RR and RCB fight it out at Bangalore but the rain had a say that night. Hopefully we get a full game at Jaipur to see how Rahul Dravid vs RCB contest would be

Also, we need to be a little more aggressive in our approach. Sending Zaheer ahead of Tiwary, AB and Kohli is a weak move. We can never justify that. Batsman bat and they could do that better if they are allowed to bat for as many over as possible.

All in all, a great start, wonderful performances over the first week and hope to see more in the next one month. Good luck RCB.