Irfan Pathan believes that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will struggle with their bowling once again in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). The Bangalore-based franchise released several bowlers, including notable names such as Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, David Willey, and Wayne Parnell, ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
RCB made significant investments in seam-bowling acquisitions at the auction, including Alzarri Joseph (₹11.5 crore), Yash Dayal (₹5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (₹2 crore), and Tom Curran (₹1.5 crore).
Irfan Pathan worried about the bowling attack of RCB
During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan expressed concerns about the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling lineup, highlighting potential weaknesses and areas for improvement. The former Indian all-rounder explained,
“It’s going to be very difficult in bowling once again. RCB thought that they had tried a lot of things in fast bowling. They had tried swing and a little variation in Harshal Patel. Now they have run after pace,”
The southpaw pointed out that Joseph and Ferguson may struggle to contain runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium due to its traditionally batsman-friendly conditions.
“Do Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson have the control? Their economies will go even higher at the Chinnaswamy. However, if they win matches even with the higher economy, they would have done their job,” Pathan said.
In IPL 2023, Joseph managed to claim seven wickets in seven matches for the Gujarat Titans (GT), but his economy rate stood at 9.37. Ferguson, on the other hand, played three matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last season, where he only managed to take one wicket and conceded an average of 12.52 runs per over.
You didn’t pick a spinner– Irfan Pathan points out the lack of a prominent spinner in the RCB squad
Irfan Pathan raised concerns about the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s decision not to acquire any prominent spinner during the IPL 2024 auction.
“You didn’t pick a spinner. Hasaranga went for just 1.50 crores. He went very cheap. You could have reacquired him considering the first season he had. RCB have done well when they had a good spinner for the middle overs,”
Irfan Pathan suggested that the Royal Challengers Bangalore could have considered recruiting a mystery spinner during the IPL 2024 auction to fill the role similar to what Yuzvendra Chahal and Wanindu Hasaranga previously played for the team.
“Either he should have something special. You need to bowl with courage on that pitch and Chahal used to do that. After that, Hasaranga came. He brought something different. I thought they would go for a mystery spinner,” Pathan observed.
According to Pathan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, acquired by KKR for ₹2 crore, could have been a valuable addition to the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad. He suggested that players like Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh, although effective in their own right, might not bring the same X-factor as Mujeeb and are more suited to restrictive bowling roles.