With the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) entering the crucial phase, frenzied fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are hoping that the home team makes it to the last four for a place in the playoffs and to the final eventually.
Though Mumbai Indians pushed RCB to fifth place on Tuesday by beating Delhi Daredevils with five wickets, the home team has to win all its four matches after Wednesday's game against Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy stadium here to regain the fourth slot and remain there in the points table.
Of the nine matches RCB played at home and away, it won four and lost four while it shared a point when its league tie with Rajasthan Royals was called off following heavy rain here on April 29 though it was sitting pretty with 200 on board for seven wickets.
"I hope RCB will be consistent and serious in winning the remaining games to qualify for the playoffs, as other teams are fiercely vying for the third or fourth slot in the table behind Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals in first and second places. They have to play positive and perform outstandingly in all the three departments to enter the semi-final and final," B. Vinod Kumar, a design engineer with a multinational product firm, told IANS in the stands.
RCB, which played in IPL final twice - in 2009 against the now defunct Deccan Chargers in South Africa and in 2011 against CSK in Chennai, ended up seventh in the previous edition of the tournament (IPL-7) after sterling performances in the initial games only to end up in the bottom heap.
Besides Mumbai, title holders Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi are in the race for the third and the fourth slots to play against Chennai and Rajasthan in the qualifier or the eliminator to enter the final this time.
