IPL 2019: The Last Time when RCB defeated CSK

The 12th Season of the Indian Premier League is all set to start today, with the South Indian Derby of defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore being the inaugural clash.

The two sides have a rich history of rivalry, primarily revolving around their head honchos MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, arguably the two biggest names in cricket at present. The two have faced each other 22 times, with CSK winning on 14 occasions, RCB emerging victorious in 7 games and one clash culminating in a No Result.

Dhoni's men have clearly held an upper hand over Kohli's troops, winning many close and crucial encounters. CSK have edged over RCB twice in the Playoffs (2011 and 2015) and once in the final (2011). In the previous six meetings, the Chennai Super Kings have totally dominated their southern counterparts, with the Red Army failing to open their account against the defending champions.

RCB last defeated CSK in the seventh edition of the league at Ranchi in 2014, and would be eager to end the drought and kick off their campaign with a victory.

There has been a vast change in the dynamics and the situations since then, both in international cricket as well as the IPL. Let us have a look the conditions that prevailed when RCB last won a match against CSK:

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#1 India were World Champions and Champions Trophy holders

India were World Champions in 2014

The Men in Blue emerged victorious in the ICC World Cup 2011 held in the subcontinent and became the first team to win the coveted trophy on home soil. Team India had been on a rampaging run and had also claimed the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 in England, beating the hosts in the final. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, the captains of both the aforementioned franchises, were integral parts of the Indian unit.

Dhoni was the captain of India in both the victorious campaigns, while Virat was his deputy in the Champions Trophy. Back then, India became only the second team after Australia to hold both the major ICC trophies of the ODI format together.

#2 MS Dhoni was the Indian captain in all 3 formats

2014 was the period of Dhoni era, with the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman still handling the apex duties of the national side in Tests, ODIs as well as T20Is. Dhoni hung his boots in the longest format the same year, in the tour against Australia, handing on the reins to compatriot Virat Kohli.

He continued to captain Team India in the limited overs arena, leading the side to the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2015 in Australia and ICC World T20 in India. Dhoni finally stepped down as captain in 2017, with Virat taking over as captain in all 3 formats.

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#3 Virat Kohli had only 25 international hundreds

Virat Kohli, the captain of RCB, was still a young bloke in 2014, who had begun to carve a reputation of being a proven match winner. Kohli had started earning the titles of 'Run Machine' and 'Chase Master' with his singlehandedly match-winning performances.

Given all his talent and prowess, the Delhi-born had only 25 international hundreds, with 19 in ODIs and 6 in Tests. While the word only may sound ironical, but given the monotonously consistent touch of the Indian captain of late, all the glories of the past seem to be a shadow of his present self.

While Virat's IPL journey has not been very fulfilling from the team point of view, his heroics for India have been nothing short of majestic. He has scored 66 international hundreds, with a whopping 41 in ODIs, and 25 in Tests. He has the third most hundreds in international cricket, being just behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in the list.

#4 Spin twins KulCha were still uncapped

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are the backbones of Indian spin attack at present, and form a crucial part of the World Cup plans of the subcontinental juggernaut. Both of them have risen up the ranks in quite a short span of time, carving a niche for themselves in the international arena. However, less than 5 years back, neither of them had made it to the Indian side, and were not even in contention, with Ashwin and Jadeja being at their prime.

Kuldeep was a part of the Indian side in the ICC U19 World Cup in the same year, and set his journey in the Kolkata Knight Riders in the same year. Chahal, who was a part of the victorious Mumbai side in 2013, also set forth his new innings with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the same season.

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#5 Rohit Sharma had scored only 1 double hundred

Rohit Sharma, better known as Hitman, has created a league of his own, with his penchant of scoring 'Daddy knocks' in limited overs cricket. He has 7 scores in excess of 150 in ODI cricket, 3 of which he has converted into double tons. The Mumbai-born is also the highest run scorer in T20Is and holds the record of the most international centuries (4) in the format.

The last time when RCB had edged over CSK, Rohit was the captain of the Mumbai Indians, and just had 1 double hundred in his kitty, which had come against Australia in the previous year.

Fast forward 5 years, the right-handed batsman has 3 double hundreds to his name, with the latter coming against Sri Lanka. He holds the record of the highest individual score in ODIs- 264. He is also the only player to score a double century as a captain, having achieved the feat with his third score in excess of 200.

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#6 Mumbai Indians had won only 1 IPL Title

Mumbai Indians were the defending champions of the Indian Premier League back in 2014, having finally ended their title drought in the sixth season of the league. At that point of time, CSK was the most successful team, having claimed the title twice.

However, the Rohit Sharma led side never looked back since their maiden victory, and went on to claim the title in 2015 and 2017, thus, becoming the first side to win the trophy thrice.

As of 2019, the team shares the spot of the most successful side with the Chennai Super Kings, after Dhoni's men won the title in the previous edition post their return to the tournament after 2 years.