As the Indian Premier League 2017 draws to a close, no one would have expected the Royal Challengers Bangalore to have finished rock bottom with only three wins in the entire tournament. They were even hailed as one of the favourites to win the title by a few bookmakers but miserably failed to live up to their billing.
They would soon like to forget their nightmarish season and move on to the ICC Champions Trophy which begins in a few weeks.
Also Read: IPL 2017: Virat Kohli thanks RCB fans for their support, promises to back with a bang next year
This year will be the last time RCB fans would see a few of the cricketers don the jersey for their side. Given the massive overhaul which is expected for each team before next year’s auctions, we are not aware of the retention policy that would be given to each side.
However, if given a choice to retain 5 players, these are 5 names who the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise would love to keep back in their side.
#5 Sarfaraz Khan
Way back in 2011 when the first massive player haul took place, the Royal Challengers Bangalore had retained only one player – a young Virat Kohli and let go of experienced stars like Dale Steyn and Rahul Dravid. The decision was questioned by many but RCB knew what Kohli had to offer and that turned out to be the best decision in the franchise’s history.
We could expect something similar next year with Sarfaraz Khan being retained. The youngster has immense potential and has showcased his batting skills with great effect for RCB in 2015. Unfortunately, he missed out on the entire tournament this year due to injury.
With a massive overhaul expected for each team next season, RCB will have to look at possible investments for the future and Sarfaraz could be the perfect pick.
#4 KL Rahul
KL Rahul came into the limelight after some impressive performances for RCB last year. He performed in situations when the likes of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, and AB de Villiers failed to do so. An excellent IPL season led to him being drafted into the Indian squad in all three formats of the game.
He slowly became a mainstay in the national side and left everyone spellbound with his ability with the bat. He scored a fifty in almost every innings in the recently concluded Test series against Australia at home.
Unfortunately, he injured himself towards the end of the series and was unable to play a part in RCB’s poor campaign this season and finds himself out of contention for the Champions Trophy as well.
With RCB’s poor batting display this year, Rahul would most definitely be retained next year and give the batting line-up a big boost.
#3 Yuzvendra Chahal
One of the positives from RCB’s poor season this year was Yuzvendra Chahal’s performances with the ball. He picked up 14 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 7.65.
He was extremely impressive for RCB in their run to the finals last year as well and just like Rahul, he too was called up to the Indian squad after his IPL success.
He has featured in 6 T20s and 3 ODIs for the Men in Blue and has found reasonable success in all the matches that he has played.
He would have found himself a bit unlucky to not be picked in the squad for India’s squad for the Champions Trophy with the selectors opting to go for an extra pacer instead of the third spinner.
#2 AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers lit up the tournament in his very first match for RCB this season but soon faded away after that. He was awfully poor with the bat for the rest of the tournament and it was surprising to see a player of his potential not have an answer to what was thrown at him on the pitch.
Apart from his knock of 89 against KXIP, he managed only 127 runs in 8 innings at an average of below 20.
However, RCB can never count him out and cannot afford to release him. He has not yet past his prime and we all know what he is capable of on his given day.
#1 Virat Kohli
If the teams are given a chance to retain just one player, we could be sure of the fact that RCB would retain their captain. In their worst season ever, Kohli still managed to be the top scorer for his side despite missing out on the first few games.
He managed to score 308 runs in 10 matches at an average of 30.80 with four half-centuries to his name.
Kohli himself was abashed at RCB’s performance this year and vowed to make a successful comeback next year. He will look to build a strong side next year and get in a good balance of youth and experience in an attempt to help RCB lift their first ever IPL trophy.
He has undoubtedly been RCB’s best player over the years and was untouchable last year scoring nearly 1000 runs with 4 centuries to his name. The fighter that he is, we could surely expect him to come back much stronger next year.
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