ABD & Virat failed to live up to their billing in IPL-10: Ponting

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE are languishing at the bottom of the IPL table after having won just two out of 13 games this season. The Virat Kohli-led side was the first team to exit the race for the play-offs.

Despite having a stellar batting unit, RCB repeatedly failed to put big runs on the board. While their performance with the willow has remained unimpressive, the bowling department has delivered a subdued performance too.

Assessing RCB’s performance in IPL-10, former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting stressed on the absence of KL Rahul in squad. Ponting believes that the Karnataka-lad, who has been side-lined for an indefinite period due to a shoulder surgery, was a massive loss for the franchise.

"KL Rahul is a massive loss for them. He had a terrific back-end to last season. He did some amazing things last year so him not being at the top has been a big loss. Their big name players just aren't standing up like they did last year."

‘Punter’ also reckoned that inconsistency of Kohli and ABD costed the side big time. 

"They got on an amazing roll at the back end of last year's tournament when Kohli was playing out of his skin, de Villiers was playing well, Gayle was chipping in and Watson was doing a good job with bat and ball. But so far Kohli has done next to nothing, there's been flashes in the pan from Gayle and AB de Villiers, but the consistency just hasn't been there.”

Get the latest in the world of Sports, Teams, and Players! Free Delivery to your Inbox.