If there is one team in the world that boasts of plenty of match-winners, it has to be the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Whichever part of India players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli compete in, the crowds are always behind them, chanting their names as they walk out to the middle, whilst falling off to a sudden hush as they trod back after losing their wicket. Although the men in red and gold have never lifted the trophy, the year 2016 promises to be a good one for RCB, with the team bolstered by the inclusions of some reliable players through the trading window and the auction.
How did the auctions work out?
The RCB think-tank came out well planned and calm, as they bought some handy players to support the current squad. Shane Watson was the talk of the town and for no small reason, as he was roped in for a huge packet of 9.5 crores, the highest paid player of the 2016 auction. This was a great buy as not only did he strengthen the batting department, but fulfilled the role of the powerful all-rounder RCB was searching for.
The inclusion of hard-hitting batsman Kedar Jadhav( through the trading window) and wily all-rounder Stuart Binny was also well worked out. The bowling department also got their share of foreigners, with internationally numero-uno ranked Samuel Badree joining the Challengers brigade.
Kane Richardson was also bought for his base-price, while Travis Head, the big-hitting middle order batsman who emerged as the 3rd highest run-scorer in the BBL bought for just 50L. With the purse also being partially allocated for some young uncapped players, RCB came out of the auctions happy and stronger. KL Rahul and Parvez Rasool then joined RCB, after being sold to RCB by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Now, let’s have a look at how the individual departments turn out this year for the Red ‘n’ Gold brigade.
Batting department: RCB’s strength
The batting department hosts an array of superstars. Gayle, Watson, Kohli. AB De Villiers. These four names are enough to make any bowling line-up in the world shudder in fear. Going on paper and by talent, RCB has potentially the best batting line-up of any IPL team so far, with the inclusion of star Australian batsman Shane Watson.
Batting is without any doubt the strongest department for the Challengers, with the likes of big-hitting Kedar Jadhav, Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh in the mix, who will be looking to make it big, whilst backing up the top 4 in the line-up. The addition of seasoned campaigner Stuart Binny will add depth to the line-up while local boy KL Rahul will also be looking to showcase his prowess with the bat.
Bowling department: RCB’s weakness
The bowling line-up looks a bit toothless this year with the loss of pace spearhead Mitchell Starc due to injury. However, the addition of numero-uno ranked Samuel Badree and Australian Kane Richardson might just fill the void, although not to the effect of Starc. Local star Yuzvendra Chahal has been a sensation with the ball for RCB, bowling exceedingly well and containing the batsmen.
With leading pacer Mitchell Starc sidelined with injury, Adam Milne might be given the responsibility of shouldering the pace attack while Badree, with his tremendous experience could get a serious look in. With Richardson and South African all-rounder David Wiese in the frame, RCB will have an issue of sorts to carefully select their fourth foreigner in the team, with the three foreigners in Gayle, Watson and AB sure to make the starting eleven.
How have the RCB men gone by in the World cup?
With the recent conclusion of the World T20, if form was anything to go by, RCB can potentially lift the trophy after 9 hard-fought years.
Virat Kohli’s form has been phenomenal, seeming like a bullet train without breaks,ending his campaign with a gob-smacking average of 136.65 to add the man of the series trophy to his trophy collections. Shane Watson has contributed with both bat and ball, averaging 48 with the bat, and picking up 5 wickets in his 4 matches. Chris Gayle looked his menacing best against England and blasted off to a century.
AB De Villiers has not been in the form he’s known for apart from his onslaught against Afganistan,but batsmen like De Villiers need just one game to get back into form. Samuel Badree has been very good for the West Indies in the powerplay overs, strangling batsmen with his length and skid off the surface and emerged as the only bowler who ended the World Cup campaign with an economy less than 6, proving how valuable a player he is.
With all these factors in mind, RCB fans and IPL fans across the world might just be licking their lips, for some unparalleled entertainment from the Bengaluru-based side.
Franchise details:
Owner : UB Spirits Pvt. Limited
Captain : Virat Kohli
Home : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
History : 2008- 2nd last place , 2009- runner up, 2010- 3rd place, 2011- runner up, 2012- league stages , 2013- League stages, 2014- 7th place, 2015- 3rd place.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 2016 Team/Squad for IPL:
Indian players : Virat Kohli (Captain), Varun Aaron, Harshal Patel, Sachin Baby, Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Sarfaraz Khan, Iqbal Abdulla, Vikas Tokas, Praveen Dubey, KL Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sreenath Aravind, Vikramjeet Malik, Kedar Jadhav, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Akshay Karnewar.
Foreign players : Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, AB De Villiers, Samuel Badree, Adam Milne, Kane Richardson, Travis Head, David Wiese.
RCB’s Schedule for IPL 9:
| Date | Opposition | Venue | TIme |
| 12th April 2016 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 20:00 |
| 17th April 2016 | Delhi Daredevils | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 20:00 |
| 20th April 2016 | Mumbai Indians | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 20:00 |
| 22nd April 2016 | Rising Pune Super Giants | Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune | 20:00 |
| 24th April 2016 | Gujarat Lions | Saurashtra Cricket Association, Rajkot | 16:00 |
| 30th April 2016 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad | 20:00 |
| 2nd May 2016 | Kolkata Knight Riders | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 20:00 |
| 7th May 2016 | Rising Pune Super Giants | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 16:00 |
| 9th May 2016 | Kings XI Punjab | Vidharbha Cricket Association, Nagpur | 20:00 |
| 11th May 2016 | Mumbai Indians | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 20:00 |
| 14th May 2016 | Gujarat Lions | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 16:00 |
| 16th May 2016 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 20:00 |
18th May 2016 22nd May 2016 | Kings XI Punjab Delhi Daredevils | M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International cricket stadium, Raipur | 20:00 20:00 |
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