"RCB Have Changed Name But Not Deeds": Ex-India Star Tears Into Faf And Co

Former India batter Aakash Chopra was fierce in his criticism of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) following their defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2024 on Saturday. The defeat leaves RCB eighth in the points table with one win from five matches. The only positive for the team has been the form of star batter and former captain Virat Kohli, who leads the run-scoring charts of the ongoing season. On Saturday, Kohli scored his first century of the season and a record-extending eighth overall, smashing an unbeaten 113 to take RCB to 183/3 in 20 overs.

His knock wasn't enough on the night for RCB as RR's Jos Buttler scored a ton of his own to guide the hosts home with five balls to spare.

Analysing the RCB's defeat, Chopra said that the franchise might've changed their name but their hasn't been any change or improvement, with one man carrying the team on his back.

"Everyone said that this tournament has twists and thrillers. However, the Bengaluru guys are saying - 'It's not the case with us. Neither are we able to win nor are we able to fight. We wanted Kohli to score runs, he is doing that, but no one else is able to score and whatever we score is not enough'. What is happening? They have played five matches and lost four of them. The situation is very bad. They have changed their name but not their deeds. They are struggling, there is no doubt about that," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

While there has been criticism Chopra slammed captain Faf du Plessis and the rest of the batters for not doing enough with the willow.

"Faf du Plessis scored runs. He was seen batting slightly well for the first time in this season. Kohli was at the other end. Incidentally, Manish Pandey scored a 67-ball century and his century also came off 67 balls. So it was the joint-slowest hundred in IPL history but it was not about that. The thing is for how long will he walk alone? 'Ekla chalo re' is a good song but it is a song, you don't win the match with that. If you hadn't lost a wicket in the first 12- 13 overs, there is no doubt that you should have scored 200 runs. However, this team was left well behind 200, scored 183 in total - not going to be enough," he added.