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Internet Desk: It’s been a mystery to see Royal Challengers Bangalore failing to live up to its expectation in IPL 2017. The power-packed RCB side on Mondayslumped to its seventh straight loss in the season. The Virat Kohli led side lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by 61 runs. The last years runners-up have been a huge let down. Touted as the favourites to lift the IPL title this season, Bangalore’s campaign has gone completely awry. The Challengers has just managed to win only 2 matches from 10 outings so far. With just four more matches left, the Royal Challenger’s hopes for a place in the Play-Offs looks distant impossibility. As the Challengers prepare themselves to take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, xtratime.in takes a look at the possible five reasons for RCB’s failure: FAILURE OF BIG 3 WITH THE BAT: Perhaps the most important reason for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s failure this season. The power packed batting unit comprising of game-changers like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle has been inconsistent to say the least. The biggest disappointment has been the form of ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle who has just managed to score 152 runs in 6 matches. By his own high standards it has been a poor show for Gayle. The Jamaican’s failure to give a blazing start did not help the franchise either. Virat Kohli has also failed to live up to his standards. The RCB captain has so far contributed 219 runs from 6 matches including 3 fifties. His highest score of 64 runs against Gujarat Lions was also in a losing cause. Kohli was coming back from a shoulder injury he sustained during the recently concluded test series against Australia, due to which he had to miss the first few matches this season. Another huge disappointment for RCB was the form of AB de Villiers. The Proteas cricketer has scored a dismal 153 runs from 6 matches including a highest score of 89 runs against Kings XI Punjab. DISMAL FORM AT HOME: It was baffling to notice that the Royal Challengers Bangalore has not been able to score huge totals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The RCB batsmen looked stifled against the opponent bowlers. Traditionally, the conditions at home suited the strengths of the RCB batsmen. With a quick outfield, short boundaries and a pitch seemingly made for the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Kohli, the Bangalore big-hitters have constantly racked up totals as big as their auras. But somehow the runs seemed to have dried down from their bats. In four matches at the Chinnaswamy this year, Bangalore’s biggest total has been the 157 against Delhi Daredevils. COMBINATION PROBLEM: This has been another area for concern for the Royal Challengers. The team management has struggled to find a right combination compared to teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. It took them six matches to finalise their opening pair as they tried five different combinations before finally settling with Kohli and Chris Gayle. Injuries to AB de Villiers meant the middle order was left a bit vulnerable. POOR SHOW BY TYMAR MILLS: A lot was expected from this England bowler who has so far failed to deliver. Mills, who had a base price of Rs 1 crore was bought by the Royal Challengers for a whopping Rs 12 crore. Regarded as a specialist bowler in this format Mills has picked only 5 wickets so far. The English bowler has not done justice to his death bowling as he has an economy rate of 8.57. The franchise was banking on him after Australian Pacer Mitchell Starc pulled himself from the tournament. The RCB bowling without Starc lacked the potent to make inroads at the opponent batting. While RCB’s pace department does not pose any threat, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets), Samuel Badree (8 wickets) and Pawan Negi (7) are trying their best to make it up for the pacers’ failures. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM INDIAN PLAYERS: The contributions from the Indian players become very crucial in the format like the IPL. With as many as 7 Indians in the playing eleven, a lot depends about their performance. While players like Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya has performed for their respective franchises it has not been the case with RCB. Indian batsman Kedar Jadhav has scored only 213 runs from 9 matches. Another Indian cricketer, Stuart Binny has been a huge let down. The Karnataka all rounder has only scored 78 runs from 8 matches along with picking 4 wickets. Punjab’s flamboyant batsman Mandeep Singh is having a poor season. Pawan Negi hasn’t done anything noteworthy in the IPL so far. Only saving grace for the franchise has been the form of leg spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal. He has been the most consistent bowler for RCB, picking 10 wickets from 9 matches. His best bowling was against the Knight Riders when he picked 16/3.