RCB are falling short due to lack of depth and explosive hitters: Sanjay Bangar

Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) squared off in the 60th match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first. Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell scored half-centuries as RCB set a 172-run target for the home side. 

RR's batting unit struggled during the chase as they were restricted to 59 runs in 10.3 overs. Wayne Parnell took three wickets, while Michael Bracewell and Karn Sharma took two each, and Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell picked one each.

Ahead of the game, RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar admitted that his team is struggling owing to a lack of depth, which is the cause of their inconsistent performance in the 2023 IPL. According to the former Indian cricketer, the team has been falling short by 10-15 runs in each encounter due to a dearth of powerful hitters in the lower middle order.

"Well, we were certainly lacking in certain areas. We are falling 10-15 runs short with the bat and falling short due to lack of depth and explosive hitters and we have addressed that. Coming to today, we are looking to rectify that and score more," Bangar told Star Sports ahead of the game.

The bowling team has also gone down as we have failed to defend big totals like before: Bangar

The coach then addressed the team's bowling section, stating that they had not been doing as well as they had in the beginning phases of the tournament. Notably, RCB included New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell in their line-up against RR and opted to leave out all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga.

"Even with the ball as well. In the first half of the tournament we were defending well and scores of 170-180 were defended. The bowling team has also gone down as we have failed to defend big totals like before. So, these are the two areas death batting and bowling as a whole is where we are looking to improve," Bangar added.