There is not much discussion on Gayle in the dressing room: Sreenath Arvind

The Royal Challengers Bangalore is on the wrong side of the table as far as the league standings are concerned. They are currently in the sixth position and just ahead of Delhi Daredevils and the Gujarat Lions. Luck has also not played in their favour as the rain gods decided to pour down resulting in an important match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad being called off on Tuesday.

Injuries to key players in Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers resulting in them missing the initial stages of the tournament have also not helped their cause. Add to that, injury woes to Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul causing them to miss the entire tournament have also pummeled on top of their concerns.

The form of their destructive opener in Chris Gayle is also under the radar as he has been largely inconsistent for the better half of the tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore speedster Sreenath Aravind on Wednesday said that his team has the arsenal to create a fairytale comeback following an abysmal performance in the first half of the tournament.

“Definitely. We have a bunch of good players. We know that we have to win all the six games,” he told reporters at the Chinnaswamy stadium on being asked whether his side could still make it to the playoffs. The pacer who hails from Karnataka has taken 4 wickets in the 5 games he has played so far in the tournament and will be looking for more as the tournament progresses.

“Pressure will be there certainly. We have to be positive. We have to play each game and win each game,” he was quoted as saying. The Royal Challengers will be potentially out of the tournament if they lose any one of their remaining matches in the tournament.

The relative slowness of the Chinnaswamy wicket also came to the pacers attention. “Yes, the pitch has become a little bit slow. Not as good as it was last year. But it is a competitive pitch. It is becoming slower by the day, and yet it is a competitive wicket,” he commented.

Regarding the insipid performance from Gayle in the tournament so far, he said the team wasn’t much worried about the burly Jamaican. “There is not much discussion on him in the dressing room. He is a master batsman. Unfortunately, he is in bad form this year. It is very difficult for a batsman to be in peak form every year. Sometimes, it happens in cricket,”

The Royal Challengers are in the frying pan as far as their position on the points table is concerned and every move they make will determine their fate in the tournament. The star-studded team has to come out all guns blazing to stand a chance in the league.

– Written by Gokul Narayanan