After losing seven of their first eight matches, the Bengaluru team, led by Faf du Plessis and inspired by the Orange Cap support Virat Kohli (708 runs), won their next six matches on the trot to push CSK out of the race and finish in the top four in the table.
IPL2024: Results | Points table
This made RCB the first IPL team to qualify for the playoffs after losing seven of their first eight matches of the season.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who has the experience of playing in the IPL, described what this remarkable turnaround means for the league and RCB.
“This season has been iconic (for RCB). You don't do such things again and again, it's not that strong),” Irfan said on Star Sports.
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“If you see the teams who reached the top four (playoffs), if you compare their bowling units, RCB's bowling is not that strong. You don't have a bowler who can play Yorkers. Despite that , you win six matches in a row and qualify for the playoffs. That's why it's an iconic season – for Virat Kohli, for Faf du Plessis, for RCB and their fans, I have. not recovered so far,” added the player and commentator. .
The league stage concluded on Sunday to confirm the top four rankings, with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR, 20 points) finishing on top, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH, 17 points) number two, Rajasthan Royals (RR , 17 points) third and RCB (14 points) in fourth position.
RCB finished ahead of CSK, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants (all with 14 points) in terms of net run rate.
This means that KKR and SRH will play the Qualifier 1, while RR and RCB will face each other in the Eliminator. The winners of Qualifier 1 advance directly to the final, while the losers face the winning team of the Eliminator to determine the second finalist.
Pathan thought it takes away your life if you don't win a match for a month, which happened with RCB this season, but they still didn't give up and rose up like a Phoenix.
“RCB kharab khel rahi thi shuru mei (RCB was playing badly in the beginning). They haven't won a match in a month… I played the IPL. If you lose even two matches in a row , your hands and legs start shaking… If you don't win for a month, you are dead. They (RCB) rose like a phoenix, they came back to life… That's the kind of thing. cricket they played. This season will be remembered for years to come,” Irfan said.