“Half Of The Players Don’t Understand English”: Virender Sehwag Blasts RCB’s Foreign Support Staff

Another Indian Premier League (IPL), another disappointing run by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Every single season, the franchise instill hopes in the hearts of their fans, then end up breaking their hearts with their poor show on the pitch. The 2024 campaign has been no different, with RCB incurring 6 defeats in 7 matches to remain bottom of the 10-team points table. As pundits look to delve deep into the RCB machinery, many problems surface. Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag feels one of the biggest issues with the RCB is the lack of Indian support staff. (IPL 2024 Points Table)

“If you have 12-15 Indian players, just 10 overseas and your entire staff is made of foreigners, that’s an issue. Only a few of them are international players, rest are all Indians and half of them don’t even understand English. How will you motivate them? Who spends time with them? Who talks to them? I can’t see a single Indian staff member. At least there should be someone who the players can confide in,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“Players need a comfort level which they are not getting presently. Players go blank in front of captain Faf du Plessis because if he asks something, they will have to answer. If the leader is Indian, you can share what’s going through your mind. But if you do that to an overseas player, you may be left out of the Playing XI in the next game. RCB need at least 2-3 Indian support staff.”

Manoj Tiwary, former India and Kolkata Knight Riders batter, feels RCB’s problems go deeper, with poor recruitment at the auction table one of the biggest reasons behind their troubles.

“I know where the problem is. From the auction table to the management. All the good players of this franchise leave to go and play for other teams. One of them is the leading wicket-taker this season [Yuzvendra Chahal]. You let them go. You don’t persist with Virat Kohli’s captaincy. He led them to the 2016 final. Then today, the 4 costliest players of the franchise whose collective budget is more than Rs 40 crore, are all benched. Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph. Siraj was rested. So when you’re spending so much money and then benching these players, you know where the problem lies,” said Tiwary.

“Batting is not a problem. It was always bowling. They don’t have a specialist spinner. You’re making Will Jacks open the bowling. Sometimes Mahipal Lomror and even some of the on-field captaincy calls are terrible. Everything is wrong from every corner. They need to regroup entirely and devise a long-term plan.”

Though it’s not all over for the Bengaluru side yet, Faf du Plessis’ men need a gigantic effort to make it to the playoffs.