Virat Kohli is flying but RCB not clicking as a unit: Aaron Finch

Former Australia cricketer Aaron Finch shared his thoughts on RCB’s bowling, highlighting issues in that department have persisted for the franchise for over a decade now. Finch’s remarks came after RCB succumbed to their third straight defeat in IPL 2024. Their most recent one came against Rajasthan Royals in an away game on April 6, where Faf du Plessis and Co. saw their opponents chase a 184-run target with considerable ease thanks to Jos Buttler’s century.

"The bowling has been an issue for RCB for the last 10 years at least. You get to this point of the season that if things aren’t well for RCB, you’re always questioning the bowling. The whole unit is not clicking at the moment. Obviously, Virat’s flying, he played beautifully again tonight. They’re striking at 120 for the rest of the group when you’ve got such a fantastic platform, which makes it really difficult to get in the game. And then the ball's flying around the park. They started off brilliantly. Reece Topley was outstanding with the new ball. But like Faf said in his post-game, Mayank Dagar with the sixth over probably just let the momentum slip all the way into Rajasthan's change rooms and they couldn't contain it after that,” Finch told Star Sports. 

Also read: IPL 2024: Desolate Virat Kohli sits alone in dugout after RCB's defeat against RR, picture goes viral

Former Australia cricketer Michael Clarke also spoke about Virat Kohli and RCB’s batting. Notably, Buttler was not the lone centurion in the clash, as Kohli notched up his eighth in the league. However, it went in vain with barely any support for him. 

 “I wouldn't point my fingers at Virat Kohli, I can’t. He was brilliant and I think he played the exact role he needed to play. He needs to play at the moment because the batters around him are not scoring enough runs. They’re not playing with enough confidence or enough freedom,” Clarke said.

“As I mentioned at the start of the Rajasthan’s innings, I think RCB left 15 runs out of the ground. A few of their decisions were hard to understand. If you’ve got Karthik as a specialist finisher, I don’t know why he didn’t come in probably after Maxwell. He certainly should have come in before Cameron Green. So, that was an interesting decision. I think there are other batters that are not in form and that’s probably hurting them,” he added.

Also read: 'Top five aren't in sparkling form except Virat' - Andy Flower urges for 'aggression' from RCB after third straight loss

Clarke was effusive in praise for Buttler’s batting prowess as he returned to form after a quiet start to the tournament. 

"I think he showed his experience. He got through that tough period at the start where he was very scratchy. He probably could have got out a couple of times, but once he got through that, then he picked his bowler, picked his areas and as he just said in his post-match, he just backed himself as well. He had the confidence that I'm due to score runs, it will come good. This is how I play, these are my shots, I'm just going to stick to what I know over a long period of time, and it worked. But yeah, I think the skipper played a big role. I think, Sanju [Samson], the way he walked out and played really positive from ball one, allowed Jos to then be okay with being six of seven balls, and not hitting every ball out of the middle of the bat. So, I think that partnership was a significant one.”