IPL 2023: Sanjay Bangar Opines on What RCB Should Do to Win the IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar opened up on the franchise’s inability to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) after his team exited the ongoing IPL 2023. Like every year, this season too RCB were among the favourites to win the title but they were knocked out of IPL 2023 after a six-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans (GT) in the last league match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, May 21 as well.

In a post-match press conference, Sanjay Bangar was asked about his thoughts on why RCB have failed to win the IPL. To which he replied:

“If you see the last four seasons and, I don’t know how you want to count this season as… We finished at 14 points, at number five [six] in the points table, narrowly missing out on a playoffs spot. Previous three seasons, [we got] consecutive positions in the playoffs.“We are doing certain things right to maintain that sort of consistency. But, we have to find for answers within as to why we can’t take that final couple of steps which are needed, which will help us fulfill our long-cherished dream – not only from a team’s perspective, but the support the team gets from all across the country and more so the crowd in Bangalore.”

Notably, RCB have reached the IPL final thrice, but on all three occasions, they have finished runners-up as well.

IPL 2023: “We were pretty consistent throughout the season” – Sanjay Bangar

While talking about RCB’s performance in IPL 2023, Sanjay Bangar added that the team showed good consistency. He, however, opined on the franchise’s inability to win key moments, which cost them in the end. He said:

“I thought we were pretty consistent throughout the season. If you take out the second game that we played against KKR, wherein we were outplayed totally, apart from that, we played consistent cricket. We could not finish some key phases of the game. Because of that, we were probably a couple of points short towards the end. All in all, I felt that the team competed.”

“Even today [Sunday], on that wicket, with the conditions and the moisture, we got a very competitive score. But, credit to Shubman [Gill]. The way him and Vijay Shankar put that partnership, it took the game away from us,” Sanjay Bangar concluded.

Notably, Shubman Gill (104* off 52) added 123 for the second wicket with Vijay Shankar (53 off 35) as Gujarat chased down the total in 19.1 overs to finish RCB’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs as well.