Can RCB Do It This Time Around?

RCB, aka Royal Challengers Bangalore, had a disastrous outing in the first edition of the indian Premier League which all of us know about.

This time around RCB has made a few changes here and there. They have brought in Pietersen, Jesse Ryder and Uthappa. They have also sold Zaheer Khan to Mumbai Indians (actually they swapped him with robin).

Although I am a great fan of RCB and Dravid I still feel that this team is one of the weakest in the IPL. The reasons are as follows:

1. They don't have a good opening pair. Jesse Ryder is surely a good opener but who goes along with him? Wasim isn't too good, Chanderpaul no way, Dravid may carry on as a makeshift opener for sometime but that's not going to solve the problem.

2. Steyn and Bracken are really good especially in the T20 format but they will arrive  here after a few matches are over because of the ODI series in South Africa. We had high expectations with Praveen Kumar but he disappointed all of us and as such I can't expect much of him.

3. Delhi has Vettori and Mishra, Chennai has Murali and Rajasthan has Warnie the magician—but what about Bangalore? With due respect to Anil Kumble, I do not feel he is suited for T20s. Vettori and Warnie can bat as well which is an added advantage for the team.

4. The Karnataka players are a talented bunch but they wont get many opportunities in the presence of stalwarts like KP, Dravid, Steyn, and Boucher. talking about Boucher, he and Kallis  weren't good at all in the opening season. We do expect a lot from a power hitter like Boucher.

5. Captaincy is a big issue as well. For all his charisma KP and his boys were humiliated 5-0 by our men in blue. He is a very good Test captain no doubt but the same cant be said about ODI and most importantly T20s. Robin may become captain once KP leaves for the all important ASHES series but aren't we burdening the young lad with too many responsibilities?

I still hope that whatever I have stated above is proved wrong because I still believe that if Rahul Dravid, KP, Ryder and Uthappa help RCB post big totals in most of the matches the bowlers will be under a lot less pressure and they will do well.

Their win against Chennai last season after scoring 126 was the highlight of the season last year and I do hope that it can be repeated at least three times this season if they want to be in the semis.

IPL this season will be bigger and better and recession proof. This season will be very tough for the Bangalore boys and I sincerely hope that they do well this time.