New Delhi: Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) spinner Shadab Jakati made some shocking claims as he explained why the franchise has not been able to win their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title despite having been part of the competition from the inaugural edition in 2008. Jakati, who played for three franchises in the IPL, spent a solitary season at RCB in 2014.
Jakati claimed there was a lack of camaraderie between the players in the RCB dressing room and the management used to focus on only a few big names during his time with the franchise. The former spinner believes these are some of the reasons why RCB has not managed to taste success in the IPL so far.
Jakati played for the likes of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), RCB and the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in the IPL. He enjoyed his best years with CSK where he spent four seasons and won two titles in 2010 and 2011. Jakati played a key role in CSK’s maiden IPL triumph under MS Dhoni in 2010. He picked up 45 wickets in 50 matches for CSK before being bought by RCB in IPL 2014.
Jakati got to play only one match for RCB in 2014 and was dropped after conceding 41 runs while going wicket-less. Virat Kohli was the captain of the side when Jakati played for RCB while former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori was the head coach. He later played for Gujarat Lions for two seasons before retiring from cricket.
Opening up on his time at RCB, Jakati revealed the dressing room environment was not right at the franchise. “It’s a team game. If you want to win trophies, the team needs to play like a unit. 2-3 players cannot help you win the trophy. Chennai had a strong group of Indian players and some decent foreign players. It is important to get your combination. When I was in RCB, they would focus on 2-3 players only,” Jakati told Sportskeeda.
Players didn’t gel properly at RCB: Jakati
Jakati also claimed the players at RCB didn’t gel well among themselves and that there was a huge difference in the way the management of CSK and RCB operated. While Jakati insisted RCB had quality players in their ranks, he revealed the dressing room environment was the reason behind them not being able to deliver as a team.
“There was a huge difference as far as team management, dressing room atmosphere is concerned. Players were very good, but there was no camaraderie, the players did not gel properly,” Jakati added.
A former RCB player has made a shocking revelation about the team environment during his time with the franchise and also pointed out major differences with the way Chennai Super Kings functions. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
