IPL 2020: RCB's team of the decade

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The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to enter its 13 edition in 2020. With the auctions done and dusted, all the eight franchises have already started their preparations for the first IPL of the new decade.

Royal Challengers Bangalore has been the unluckiest side as they are yet to win their first IPL title despite being a part of the tournament since its first edition in 2008. The side reached two finals in this decade but lost both of them. Keeping aside their failures, the side has gained the services of the finest T20 players over the last ten years and are one of the most entertaining sides to watch in the IPL.

Led by the Indian captain Virat Kohli, the side would hope to break their duck in IPL 2020 having signed the likes of Chris Morris and Aaron Finch for the upcoming edition. Since the decade is all set to culminate, here’s a look at Royal Challengers Bangalore’s best XI of the decade:

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Openers - Chris Gayle and Parthiv Patel (WK)

Chris Gayle had a great run with RCB

RCB tried a plethora of openers in the last few years. But the one man who cemented his spot in their top order for many seasons was Chris Gayle. No one can take his place in RCB’s team of the decade.

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The Indian star Parthiv Patel has not played much for RCB yet he holds an integral position in this squad. He is still a part of RCB as the owners have shown faith since buying him in 2018. He didn’t get many chances to bat in IPL 2018 but he stole the show in the year 2019 where he aggregated 373 runs in 14 matches at a strike-rate of 139.17. His highest score was 67 in that season. The left-handed batsman had also donned the RCB jersey in 2014 where he scored 205 runs in 12 games.

The West Indian star, Chris Gayle would be the perfect partner for him. He debuted for RCB in the year 2011 and was a part of the franchise till 2017 before he moved to KXIP. In those 7 editions, he smashed 3163 runs. His best IPL season came in 2012 where he won the Orange Cap with 733 runs from 15 matches.

Batsmen- Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul and AB de Villiers

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have been the cornerstones of this side.

The only reason RCB reached two finals of Indian Premier League in this decade was Virat Kohli. During the first edition of IPL in 2008, the franchises were allowed to select one player each from the Under-19 draft. While Delhi Daredevils had the first choice, they selected Pradeep Sangwan from that draft. RCB gained the services of Virat Kohli and since then Kohli has never gone under the hammer in IPL Auction.

The middle-order batting duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers is the top-rated one among all the pairs. Virat is the highest run-scorer in IPL history with 5412 runs under his belt. He had even won the Orange Cap in IPL 2016 by scoring an astonishing 973 runs at an average of 81.08 and strike-rate of 152.03.

AB de Villiers has borne the burden of RCB's middle-order along with Virat Kohli. He was bought by RCB in 2011 and has been a permanent fixture in the lineup ever since. While the South African star has been very consistent in the league, he performed extraordinarily well in 2016 as he ended the season with 687 runs at an average of 52.84.

Since RCB did not have any other viable middle-order batsman in this decade, KL Rahul occupies the third middle-order spot in this team. As compared to other middle-order batsmen, Rahul had a better stint with RCB in the years 2013 and 2016. He played only 5 matches in IPL 2013 but he proved his worth in the 2016 edition. Rahul scored 397 runs at a blistering strike-rate of 146.49 in 2016.

All-rounders - Yuvraj Singh and Moeen Ali

Yuvraj Singh played for RCB in 2014

Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t had a great fortune in the all-rounders department. But the fans can regard the duo of Yuvraj Singh and Moeen Ali as their best all-rounders of the decade. Both the stars possess the ability to turn the game with their all-round talent.

Yuvraj Singh stole the show in the auction of IPL 2014 as RCB grabbed him for a whopping amount of INR 14 crore. He tried his best to justify the price tag attached to his name. He aggregated 376 runs from 14 matches in that season with a highest score was 83 runs and a strike-rate of 135.25. He slammed 50 boundaries. He even bowled a few overs for RCB as he scalped 5 wickets with best figures of 4/35.

The English all-rounder Moeen Ali was an integral part of the RCB squad during the last two editions of IPL. In the 2 seasons, he has aggregated 297 runs from 106 matches at an average of 24.75. His bowling performance has also been impressive as he grabbed 9 wickets while giving away 266 runs. His best bowling figures are 2/18.

Bowlers- Yuzvendra Chahal, Mitchell Starc, Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar

Bowling has been the weak point of RCB

One of the main reasons behind RCB’s failure in IPL has been their weak bowling line-up. Despite having a mammoth total on the board, RCB’s bowlers have let the batsmen down with their disappointing performances. Though RCB have had talented bowlers in their lineup, they have never fired as a unit.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been RCB's lead bowler since he joined the franchise in 2014. His wicket-taking abilities have won several matches for the Bold Army. His best bowling figures are 4/25, which came in the year 2016.

The fast bowling department features the trio of Mitchell Starc, Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar, who have troubled some of the best batsmen over the years. Even though Starc has played just 2 seasons for RCB, he has grabbed 34 wickets. His best performance came in IPL 2015 as he bagged 20 wickets at an economy rate of 6.76 and an average of 14.55.

The side also features another left-handed pacer in Zaheer Khan. He had played 4 IPL seasons for RCB in the years 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He ended his career for RCB by scalping 49 wickets in those 4 seasons. Zak performed his best for RCB in the year 2012 where he picked up 17 wickets.

Vinay Kumar has played 5 IPL seasons for the Royal Challengers Banglore side and 3 of them came in this decade. He had scalped 23 wickets for Bangalore in 2013, yet the franchise did not keep him for the next season. This decision had surprised a few fans however, Kumar always gave his best for his home franchise.