Tips for RCB to utilize their resources better

Here is my take on how RCB can try and make optimum use of their (potent?) squad.

Tip 1: Drop Anil Kumble, Cameron White can bowl leg spin too, Kumble has been expensive and has got only 1 wicket till now. certainly not worth a spot in the playing 11, that saves one spot for an additional batsman! Anil's bowling is certainly not for t20, most of them short pitched, straight and quick enough to be belted out of the small boundaries!

Tip 2: Don't include Jacques Kallis at the expense of Mark Boucher, He has averaged about 16 and his bowling hasn't been anything phenomenal. include any other batsman, he is not worth that 25% of foreign player quota, say Wasim Jaffer/Bharat Chipli will be able to do just as fine as him without wasting a foreign player spot.

Tip 3: Use Virat Kohli as the 5th bowler, this saves an additional spot for another batsman.

Tip 4: Do include guys like Devraj/Goswami, a young pair of legs can do plenty good on the field, especially when you are booting people like Kallis/Kumble out, they can save plenty of runs and score as much as them, if not more!

Tip 5: Never include Steyn and Vinay kumar in the same game, its just 20 overs alright... no point in having like 8 bowlers, considering that white/kohli can bowl too.

So the ideal starting eleven would be something like this:

1) Dravid
2) Kohli
3) Misbah
4) White
5) Boucher
6) Arun
7) Zaheer
8) Praveen
9) Kallis/Steyn(not both together)
10 and 11) Devraj / Goswami / appanna / Vinay / Wasim

The advantage of this starting line up is, there are already 4 bowlers in the first 8(Zaheer, praveen, kohli, white) and if kallis is included he will be the 5th bowler, else steyn.

So this leaves us with 2 spots(10 and 11) exclusively for batsmen, doesn't matter if you have three Wicket keepers on the ground, as long as they are young and can stop those boundaries and take those catches they should be in. Hopefully, if their thinking is something along these lines, I don't see why they shouldn't win their remaining games.

Long term tips:
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1) Axe Kumble, Joshi, Chipli, Akhil and Razzaq, yes this would mean a lot of monetary loss, but you wouldn't want to be losing three continuous seasons, would you?

2) Get another local fast bowler, such that in some games Steyn can be rested and all the foreign player slots can be filled with batsmen, Chanderpaul/Boucher, White, Misbah, Taylor in the starting line up is a sight to behold I feel!

Dravid - The wall

He is still one of the best batsmen the world has ever seen, I believe he should continue playing ODIs and even t20(he has gotten a hang of the format now, and if anything he will only get better)

He is not an out and out bang bang player, but makes sure that the scoreboard keeps ticking, builds partnerships and somebody with such a role to play in a team consisting of other bang bang loonies(India t20 team, not RCB) is very important. Clearly, he is a batsman who takes his head on his shoulders when he goes out to bat unlike quite a few other *greatest* batsmen who comfortably leave their heads in their dressing rooms.

Leave his captaincy aside, as a player he is still an invaluable asset in any form of cricket to any team. For somebody who has had zero t20 exposure and starting in such a competitive tournament like IPL alongside some International heavy weights, he has performed fantastically. That too when, there are a lots of fingers pointed at him, when the wickets on the other end are falling like cycles in a cycle stand(I hate sidhu, but had to borrow this) and when the odds are stacked against him, he has batted admirably well. Goes to show his character.

some stats:

Total runs - 273

Average - 30.33

Strike Rate - 129.38

4s/6s - 26/10

20.7% of all runs scored by BRC has come off Dravid's bat, and he has contributed more than 55% in an innings twice. Yes he was dismissed for duck twice, but so was sehwag and ponting.

Go Rahul go!