One solution to RCB’s issues could be that they drop Faf du Plessis, their captain and opener, to include Will Jacks, an in-form opener and one of the best T20 batters in the world right now.
RCB are facing a problem few teams have faced before in the IPL: do they drop their non-performing overseas captain?
So far in IPL 2024, RCB have won only 1 game – while chasing at Chinnaswamy against Punjab Kings – and lost four matches. Their major problem – apart from their usual bowling crisis – is that their overseas batting trio of Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green have not fired with the bat.
In 5 innings for each batter, Faf has scored 109 runs, Maxwell has scored 32 runs, and Green has scored 68 runs. Maxwell and Green play the roles of middle-order beasts and also offer good support in the bowling department.
The concern is of Faf du Plessis, who, starting from SA20, hasn’t been in the best nick. He is 39 years old, and is very likely going to be released by RCB.
This season, Du Plessis has a strike rate of 132, which is again under-par for the kind of high-scoring games RCB have been involved in so far.
Should Faf du Plessis step down as RCB captain and drop himself from the playing XI?
Fans are championing for Will Jacks’ inclusion in the playing XI. Whose place would Jacks take? Although Faf is the captain, it won’t be unprecedented that a captain drops himself for an in-form player in the IPL. Previously, Ricky Ponting and Gautam Gambhir have dropped themselves from the playing XI even when they were captains because they were not doing well enough with the bat.
Jacks has been in serious T20 form. His powerplay strike rate of 164 is the best among batters who have faced a minimum of 1000 balls, and he has a strike rate of 146 in the middle-overs, a phase where RCB really struggles. In his second-last knock in the BPL, Jacks blasted 108* in 53 balls.
