This is a new year, a new season, and a new group of players, but the result is the same old story for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The Bangalore franchise, led by the current Indian captain Virat Kohli, has lost its first three matches in the IPL in 2019.

But more than the number of losses, this is their margin of defeat, which is a primary concern for team management.

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In the last 11 editions, the RCB had qualified for the last three times (2009, 2011, 2016), but three of them lost. Out of the remaining eight seasons, RCB failed to qualify for the playoffs in six of them (2008, 2012-14, 2017-18). Of those six seasons, 2017 was their worst season because they stayed in the last position in the points table and were successful in winning only three matches.

From Rahul Dravid in 2008 to Kohli in recent years, six different players have captained Bangalore franchisees in their IPL history.

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In the top six captains listed above, only Kumble, Vettori and Kohli captained the franchise for more than one season.

As seen in the table, RCB’s greatest time came in the reign of Kumble, because the team was runner-up in 2009 and third in 2010.

Since the flamboyant Indian captain Kohli assumed responsibility for the full-time captaincy in 2013, RCB has seen more than the highs. Since 2013, the franchise has overtaken the group stage twice only. Even during the 2016 season of Kohli, the historic innings of 973 runs in 16 matches was not enough for the franchise because they failed to cross the final barrier.

It is difficult to digest the fact that batting of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Lokesh Rahul and Shane Watson also failed to win the trophy for RCB. This is the reason that the Bangalore franchise is often compared to the South African cricket team; They both came out as chokers.
In spite of consistent reshuffle in the team and supporting staff over the last few years, RCB has failed in repeatedly trying to win its first IPL trophy. However, in all these years the captaincy has never changed hands.

If such a player had a record of bad captaincy, then any franchise would have apparently sacked that player and appointed a new captain. However, RCB remains with Kohli because he is Kohli, India’s most powerful cricketer. And since man’s batting has never been an issue, only the quality of his leadership is open to debate.

Changes in leadership will bring new ideas and new strategies. But in the current team, only De Villiers has an important experience of the former leadership, and he is among the longest serving players in the history of the franchisee.

Considering the ICC World Cup 2019 in some stage of the tournament, Kohli has a great chance to rest. And since the DeWiliers know RCB in and out of the set-up, the franchisee can try to appoint them as new captains for the rest of the season.

Who knows, the fate of the struggling team can change well.

A year after he was found in recordings mouthing “Ee saala glass namade” (This year the container is our own) Virat Kohli abandoned the slogan saying the establishment had “zero contribution” in it. A year ago, recordings of which are as yet open on YouTube, Kohli, Brendon McCullum, Yuzvendra Chahal, Parthiv Patel, and others can be seen saying that line.

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It wasn’t realized who authored it however it had gone to turn into a semi song of praise among RCB fans and inevitably the players also had begun utilizing it as found in the recordings.

Separating himself and the group from the slogan was maybe Kohli’s approach to knock off weight by talking down odds of triumph one day before the competition opener against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai.

“The discussion a year ago was ee sala container namde, which we don’t have anything to do with. We actually had zero association however some way or another it has turned into the RCB slogan. See, we need to play great cricket. There is no advanced science here and it doesn’t generally make a difference if the football crew had won or kabaddi group had won. This is an alternate game. You might want to begin the competition believing that we get the opportunity to win the competition. Yet, you need to sensible that there are 7 different groups, and you must be deferential of their ability and aptitudes. We will be bold, we will go out there and take on groups and circumstances however we are not going to live in a heaven world.

In 2016, no one idea yet we entered the last, there is no set recipe and you need to play great cricket to inevitably achieve that arrange and that is the thing that we are anticipating,” Kohli said when asked that since Bangalore has won competitions in kabbadi, badminton, and football, would it be a what tops off an already good thing a Bangalore group wins the IPL this year.

A couple of days after Gautam Gambhir had said that Kohli was fortunate to be the chief of RCB in spite of such a significant number of disappointments, Kohli said he “doesn’t generally mind whether I am made a decision on this or not”. He said he knows there are loads of faultfinders outside however that while he might want to win the IPL, yet there is “no genuine parameter on which you need to tick all the cases”.

Thinking back the past IPL battles, Kohli said that he isn’t putting forth any reasons and feels that they required “better basic leadership”.

“Clearly, I need to play and win IPL. In any case, I don’t generally mind whether I am made a decision on this or not. There is no genuine parameter on which you need to tick all the containers. I attempt to win constantly, win all the conceivable titles, some of the time it simply does not occur. We must be viable on why we have not won, essentially it came down to awful choice amid weight circumstances. I know individuals outside jabber about this and I have given an obligation here and given an opportunity I might want to win the IPL like some other chief for my group. Yet, no reasons for not winning the IPL, just acknowledgment of the way that we have not won. The way that we have played six elimination rounds and ahead is a declaration to the way that we are a group dependably in dispute. We need better basic leadership,” Kohli said on the eve of the competition opener against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai.

Gambhir had called Kohli “fortunate” to keep being the commander and expressed his purposes behind his view. “I don’t consider him to be a savvy skipper. I don’t consider him to be a thoughtful commander (strategist). Furthermore, he hasn’t won the IPL. So eventually, a chief is just in the same class as his record,” Gambhir said on Star Sports. He has been a piece of RCB, and captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years, and he has been fortunate and ought to thank the establishment that they stayed with him. Since relatively few chiefs have such a long rope where they haven’t won a competition. There are individuals who have won the trophy multiple times. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. So I think he has far to go. You can’t contrast him with somebody like Rohit or Dhoni at this stage,” Gambhir said.

Previously, Kohli had discussed how the IPL misfortunes had developed him as a chief. Specifically, he was then discussing the IPL 2013.

“Definitely my captaincy has (developed) in light of the fact that already in the event that we lose – losing absolutely harms, I detest losing, each aggressive individual loathes losing – and it should sting yet it ought not bother you or float you far from what you need to do on the field and remove your core interest. That is critical and it’s a vocation of mentor and commander fundamentally to keep the group together and I presently get that. In such a case that you show alarm at the best post then the folks are clearly going to dissipate around and not play as a unit,” he had said in 2014.