IPL 2024: Top life lessons from Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) resurgence this season. What one can learn from RCB's comeback this season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) scripted a fairytale comeback in IPL 2024, winning six matches in a row to enter the play-offs. They were placed last after they managed to win only one match out of the first eight league games. And then, they scripted a turnaround that will be remembered for ages. Even if they had won the last league game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by a margin of less than 18 runs, they would have still not made it to the play-offs. But they fought back against a threatening stand between Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni to win the match by 27 runs and beat CSK for a play-off berth by a whisker.
There are a few life lessons to learn from Bengaluru’s biggest turnaround in IPL
Never back down even if there is 1% chance of success
After winning just one match out of the first eight games in IPL 2024, there was less than 1% chance of Bengaluru making it to the play-offs. And who knows better than Bengaluru to convert that 1% chance into a 100 %. In the 2016 IPL, Bengaluru were in a similar position, and they kept on winning in the business end of the league phase to qualify for play-offs. They posted five wins in a row in that edition.
Star player Virat Kohli’s speech given in 2023, when Bengaluru Women’s team were going through a rough phase in Women’s Premier League, has been doing the rounds again. In that video, Kohli is seen giving a pep talk to the women’s team, saying “…unexpected things can happen. Unfortunate things can happen...there is still hope…there is 1% chance…and sometimes that chance is good enough…but what matters is what you guys think about that 1 %. Are you willing to give your absolutely everything you have in tonight’s game to make that 1 into 10 and 10 into 30, and eventually, something magical might come out of it…”
The women’s team then tasted the first win, and a year later, they won the title. Kohli has walked the talk this IPL season, converting that 1% into 10% and the 10% into 100% to finally seal a play-off berth.
In life as well, just 1% chance of survival or hope is enough to stage a great fightback and turn things around. No matter what life throws at you, there is always at least 1% hope of changing things for the better. Once you make progress, keep working harder to better those chances, and soon, success will be at your doorstep.
Read More: IPL 2024, RCB vs CSK, Key Takeaways: Bengaluru make it to Playoffs on the back of six straight wins
Keep fighting until it’s over
One might argue that the turnaround happened with the game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) where Bengaluru broke the losing streak and posted the first of the six back-to-back wins. But it was a game earlier where Bengaluru ran Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) close, falling short by just a run to equal the score of 222. It gave Bengaluru the fighting spirit to give their all till the very end. It gave them the strength to fight till the last ball and make it extremely tough for the opposition to beat them. Since that game against Kolkata, they fought every ball, every over and every phase of the game to make it difficult for the opposition to score runs or take wickets. And in each of their last six wins, this persistent fightback and constant fighting spirit till the very end broke the back of the opponents.
Bengaluru did not have it easy in all the six games. They also weren’t ruthless or steamrolled their opponents. There were moments where it looked like the other team would end on the winning side, but every time, Bengaluru pulled it back to get a firm grip on the match. Even in the last game against Chennai, Rachin Ravindra with a fifty-plus score and the Dhoni-Jadeja stand looked threatening enough to spoil the home team’s party, but Bengaluru kept fighting and pulled things back to emerge victorious.
In life too, keep fighting till the very last, do not give up till your last breath. As it is wisely said, those who keep putting in the hard yards, never lose.
One match at a time
In sports and in life as well, it is sometimes easy to get overwhelmed by the task at hand. Bengaluru could have felt that too when they realised that every game is a knockout post the 1-run loss to Kolkata. But instead of looking at what could be the possible failures, they focussed on what they could work on to improve their game. They took one match at a time or achieved small targets or goals rather than looking at the end result.
They never looked at the target of winning 6 games on the trot, rather they focussed on winning one ball or one over, or one phase of the T20 game to keep things under their control and then dictate terms. Eventually, it resulted in them winning those critical phases of the match that ultimately helped them win one match at a time. And winning one match at a time created a winning momentum that they carried over to the six games, and possibly further.
Hence, it is also important in life to focus on achieving those small things, winning those small moments or goals or targets, and eventually the bigger picture will take care of itself.
Keep believing in your abilities
In the fast-paced T20 cricket where fours and sixes rain heavily and bowlers are nothing more than a bowling machine, it is important to keep faith in one’s ability to combat challenges. In the first phase, it was only Virat Kohli who was consistently scoring runs for the team. But with the back against the wall, Bengaluru batters including Kohli and bowlers lifted their game to play as a unit, and deservedly won the play-off berth.
It was Kohli who set the trend, lifting his strike rate and giving great starts to the team. Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Will Jacks found their mojo soon thereafter and started scoring runs to support Kohli. Jacks did his job before leaving for international duty, slamming a ton against Gujarat Titans (GT). Bengaluru’s trump card Mohammed Siraj found his rhythm back and started taking wickets in the powerplay. The likes of Yash Dayal also started bowling well.
The biggest emergence was that of all-rounder Cameron Green whose all-round skills came in handy in the last few wins. Green not only provided late cameos to finish the innings on a high, but also took a few important wickets.
Spinners who were considered ‘Achilles heel’ for Bengaluru started looking threatening. Karn Sharma started picking up wickets at regular intervals. Swapnil Singh gave the required support and picked up wickets in the powerplay. Maxwell’s performance with the ball in the last league game against Chennai was also crucial in choking the opponents. Hence, Bengaluru’s collective faith in their ability helped them beat all odds and move into the play-offs.
In life too, we need this strong self-belief in us and in our abilities to combat any problem and emerge winners, just as Bengaluru showed in the last phase of the league stage of IPL 2024.
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