Former SunRisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody has expressed his disappointment with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) bowling strategy in their opening match of IPL 2024 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Moody criticized RCB’s bowlers for their excessive use of short balls, which he believes made them “predictable” and allowed CSK to chase down the target comfortably.
Moody pointed out that RCB’s bowlers, particularly Alzarri Joseph and Cameron Green, repeatedly targeted Shivam Dube with short deliveries. While Dube initially struggled, he eventually smashed an unbeaten 34 to guide CSK to victory. Moody argued that RCB’s bowlers should have varied their tactics and not relied solely on short balls.
“The art of bowling short balls well is not being predictable with it,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo. “And I thought they were predictable with that plan (vs CSK). Yes, Dube has got a potential grey area when it comes to the short ball, but you’ve got to use it as a surprise. You can’t use it nearly every single ball.”
Moody emphasized that RCB’s bowlers need to be more strategic in their use of short balls and not become too reliant on them. He suggested that they should mix up their deliveries and use short balls sparingly to catch the batsman off guard.
In the match, CSK chased down RCB’s total of 173/6 with relative ease. CSK pacer Mustafizur Rahman was the star performer with figures of 4-29. Anuj Rawat (48) and Dinesh Karthik (38*) were the top scorers for RCB, while Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shivam Dube contributed to CSK’s victory.
CSK’s win extended their unbeaten streak against RCB at home since 2008. The result also highlighted the importance of tactical bowling and the need for teams to adapt their strategies to the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.
