Factors behind RCB's historic IPL comeback

The team was just inches away from lifting the trophy in 2016 before the Sunrisers Hyderabad took the cup.

However, this time the RCB have done what the Mumbai Indians had done in 2014, the team made it to the playoffs dramatically after losing 7 of the first 8 matches. The comeback, as many fans claim, is the best in history.

Virat Kohli, on JioCinema said that even he thought that it's 'game over;' for the franchise this season. But what happened after the initial setback that contributed to the team's historic comeback. Let's have a look.

Factor Kohli: Whether you win or lose, the team's star players performance becomes a key factor. Kohli's form in this context has always been a positive addition to the franchise. The Star batter is the leading run scorer in the tournament with 708 runs.

Batting in Powerplay: RCB who initially scored with slow run-rate have later improved it drastically with Kohli and Du Plessis hitting the ball all over the park. The team's overall batting performance is also a key contributing factor, since it is the team to score the most runs (1,806) in boundaries.

Bowling in powerplay: The men in red and gold have also lacked discipline initially in the tournament but have learnt their lesson later. Before April 25, RCB was the team with the least power play wickets. Later they picked up 16 wickets in the powerplay, which is the most by any team.

Improved middle order batting: The slow run rate in the initial phase of the tournament was also partly attributed to the inconsistent middle order. Which scored at just over 8 runs per over. In the second-half the middle order scored at over 10 runs per over.

Pace attack: Before April 25, RCB pacers led by Siraj were looked down by every team and scored runs for fun. The bowling attack of the team received a lot of criticism online. But after that the pace unit took 28 wickets (Second highest by a team-this season) and brought the run rate to just over 8 from 10.66.