Shahbaz Ahmed - RCB's Silent Assassin

Shahbaz Ahmed has made 145 runs in 94 balls at a strike rate of 154 and an average of 48.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore are currently on a high of Dinesh Karthik and why not, the man is scoring runs at a strike rate of 209.57 and has an average of 197 in six innings of IPL 2022. Karthik has scored 197 runs in 94 balls he has faced and has been the difference between the two teams in all four games RCB has won till now. 

Karthik has been brilliant and has done the most of the damage but cricket is ultimately a team game and there is always someone who must have supported him in finishing the job so perfectly. 

Whatever must be said about RCB management and their inability to win the tournament, there are a few things that the franchise has done right and one such thing is finding support players to tag along with the big names. 

One such player that has been brilliant for Bangalore is Shahbaz Ahmed. The lanky allrounder gives the team a quality fifth bowling option and most importantly, batting value. 

Shahbaz is a left-handed batter who is a capable batter that can rotate the strike and gives batting depth. How Shahbaz is being used is according to the situation - if the team is in trouble (which is a regular case this season) then Shahbaz is sent in to take on matchups and delay main batter's, like Dinesh Karthik, entry point. 

In six games, Shahbaz has batted four times and has scored 145 runs in 94 balls - a strike rate of 154.26 and an average of 48.33. 
Three times he has come before the 10th over (fourth occasion 11th over). On all four occasions, he has managed to stitch decent a partnership with at least one batter. 

In the game against Rajasthan, Shahbaz came in the 9th over when the score read 62/3 and got out in the 18th over after scoring 45 in 26 balls with the team score reading 154/6. During this innings, he batted with two partners, who added 40 runs in 29 balls during this time. 

In the game against Chennai, Shahbaz was sent in the seventh over at a team score of 42/3. He made 41 in 27 balls and got out in the 15th over with the team score of 133/6. Shahbaz batted with three partners who made 46 runs in 25 balls with him. 

In the game against Delhi, Shahbaz came in the 10th over at 75/4. He batted with two partners and on this occasion played the second fiddle, scoring an unbeaten 32 in 21 balls while the other end made 73 in 42 balls. 

Against Kolkata, Shahbaz was sent in at 11th over with the score reading 62/4. He made 27 in 20 balls and got out in the 16th over when the team score read 101/5. Shahbaz batted alongside Sherfane Rutherford in this game and during the partnership, his partner made 10 runs in 11 balls. 

Apart from the game against CSK, RCB won the rest three. Looking closely, Shahbaz played all games according to the situation and his partners. Against CSK & RR match, he had to take on the bowlers to keep up with the scoring rate so he made nearly what his partners scored at the other end. Against DC, he kept rotating strike with Dinesh Karthik. Against Kolkata, with not much target, Shahbaz paused the collapse with Rutherford. 

Shahbaz's contribution has been immense to the success of RCB's batting. Where Karthik has made the headlines, Shahbaz has silently done what he's been asked to do by the management that has started doing things the right way.