In what came as a surprising move, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dropped Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell ahead of their IPL 2024 clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The two mainstays for RCB have been two of their most underperforming players in the league so far.
“We haven’t delivered to our skills and some of our main players haven’t been in form. Maxwell and Siraj are sitting out.,” RCB skipper Faf du Plessis said at the toss. After enduring four back-to-back defeats, RCB will look arrest their slide as they host SRH in Match 30 of IPL 2024.
More on IPL 2024
Both Siraj and Maxwell weren’t performing at their best so far in IPL 2024. While the Indian pacer was leaking runs at an economy rate of 10.41, Maxwell was in his lean patch, scoring just 32 runs at a dismal average of 5.33. Funnily enough, Siraj’s two sixes this season is more than Maxwell has managed to hit (1). Moreover, both took four wickets each despite Siraj being a premier pacer.
Lockie Ferguson makes his debut for RCB
After a series of matches where RCB’s bowling got thrashed, the management has looked to change their variety. Thus, they have handed the debut cap to pace battery Lockie Ferguson, who is a renowned New Zealand pacer, known for his sheer pace.
Ferguson was picked up for INR 2 crore at the IPL 2024 mini auction. Interestingly, he will play alongside Reece Topley as RCB have gone with two overseas pace option vs SRH.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Saurav Chauhan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Reece Topley, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Akash Deep.
Impact subs (RCB): Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Mohammed Siraj, Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma
