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By:

Waleed Hussain

4 March 2025 at 2:34:30 pm

RCB steaming in to IPL 2026

RCB's bowling attack enters IPL 2026 as a pace-dominant unit that powered their maiden title win in 2025, but defending the crown demands addressing spin vulnerabilities and injury risks. This SWOT analysis reveals a transformed attack capable of contending, yet not invincible against evolving T20 tactics. Strengths RCB's pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Yash Dayal forms a world-class core, blending swing, bounce, and left-arm angle variation. Hazlewood's 22 wickets at...

RCB steaming in to IPL 2026

RCB's bowling attack enters IPL 2026 as a pace-dominant unit that powered their maiden title win in 2025, but defending the crown demands addressing spin vulnerabilities and injury risks. This SWOT analysis reveals a transformed attack capable of contending, yet not invincible against evolving T20 tactics. Strengths RCB's pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Yash Dayal forms a world-class core, blending swing, bounce, and left-arm angle variation. Hazlewood's 22 wickets at 17.55 in IPL 2025 showcased his powerplay and death-over mastery, while Bhuvneshwar's economy under 8 provided control on flat tracks. All-rounders like Krunal Pandya (key wickets in finals) and new buys Venkatesh Iyer and Romario Shepherd add seam options and balance, enabling flexible overseas slots with Jacob Duffy and Nuwan Thushara as backups. This depth turned RCB's historic bowling weakness into a title-winning asset last season. Weaknesses Spin remains RCB's Achilles' heel, lacking a consistent middle-overs wicket-taker despite Suyash Sharma's retention and Vicky Ostwal's addition. Suyash managed only 8 wickets at 8.84 economy in 2025, excelling in containment but faltering on turning pitches, forcing over-reliance on Krunal's left-arm spin. Age (Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar at 34-35) and injury histories pose risks, as seen in Hazlewood's prior calf issues, potentially exposing thinner domestic pace like Rasikh Dar or Abhinandan Singh. Uncapped buys like Mangesh Yadav offer promise but unproven IPL pedigree under playoff pressure. Opportunities IPL 2026's mini-auction additions like Duffy (death specialist) and Iyer (medium-pace variety) allow tactical experimentation on batting-friendly Indian pitches. Home advantage at Chinnaswamy's short boundaries favors their high-pace attack, where swing early and yorkers late can defend 200-plus totals, as proven in 2025 defenses. Emerging Indian talents (Dayal, Ostwal) could step up amid India's T20 World Cup cycle, while opponents' spin-heavy strategies (e.g., CSK's Noor Ahmad) create matchups for RCB's seamers to dominate powerplays. Title momentum fosters mental edge, positioning RCB to poach form players mid-season if needed. Threats Defending champions face heightened scrutiny, with rivals like KKR (Cameron Green at Rs 25cr) bolstering all-round attacks to target RCB's spin gaps on slower venues like Chennai or Lucknow. Batter-friendly IPL trends—record 2025 sixes in finals—amplify threats from power-hitters like PBKS's Shashank Singh, who troubled RCB before. Injury clusters could deplete overseas options (max 4), straining uncapped depth amid congested schedules. Budget constraints post-retentions (Rs 16.4cr spent judiciously) limit mid-season fixes if form dips, echoing past chokes despite strong paper squads. Path Forward RCB's bowlers must prioritize spin drills and workload management to sustain 2025 form (top-3 powerplay wickets). Rajat Patidar's captaincy can leverage data analytics for pitch-specific combos, blending Hazlewood's strike with Krunal's control. If they plug spin via Suyash's growth or Ostwal's breakout, repeat glory beckons; otherwise, pace alone won't suffice against IPL's batting evolution. Defending demands evolution, not complacency—RCB's attack has the bones, but execution will define their legacy. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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