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Royal Challengers Bangalore have represented the Karnataka state in the Indian Premier League since the league's inception.
The franchise popularly known by its acronym RCB has developed a huge fan base over the years but the team has never been able to win an IPL trophy despite being home to the best players in the world.
Virat Kohli, the current Indian captain has been with the Royal Challengers Bangalore since 2008 but even his consistency has not helped his team to cross the finishing line. The team has reached the final in three seasons but has lost all of them.
Still, it is one of the most popular cricket teams worldwide. With the 12th season of IPL approaching soon, let us have a look at RCB's performance in the league's last 11 seasons -
2008 - Rahul Dravid's men finish 7th after winning only four out of the 14 matches
RCB were blown away by Brendon McCullum in their first ever IPL match as they succumbed to a heavy defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Royal Challengers managed to win their first match versus Mumbai Indians however, they could not maintain the consistency as they could win only three more matches in the season.
The team finished seventh, just above the Deccan Chargers in the points table as the captain Rahul Dravid and team CEO Charu Sharma were slammed by team owner Vijay Mallya for the poor selection of players.
With just four victories in 14 matches and none of the players performing to their abilities and talent, the first season of the IPL was a season to forget for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Rating - 2/10
2009 - Kevin Pietersen and Anil Kumble lead the team to the IPL final in South Africa
Kevin Pietersen was signed by the Bangalore franchise for a whopping amount of 1.55 million USD in the auctions as the owners wanted improvement in the team's performance.
They also traded Robin Uthappa and local boy Manish Pandey, who would go on to become the first Indian player to score a century in the league.
RCB got off to a blistering start to their campaign in 2009 as they dismantled defending champions Rajasthan Royals in their opening match by 75 runs.
However, they suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of CSK in their next match. RCB could win only two of its first six matches and Kevin Pietersen handed the reins of the team to veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble.
Under Kumble's captaincy, the team won six out of its next eight matches and locked their position in the top 4.
They defeated the Chennai Super Kings in the semifinal and set up a clash with Deccan Chargers in the season's finale.
Kumble performed brilliantly with the ball in the final but the RCB batsmen failed to chase down a target of 144 as they fell short by six runs in the end.
Overall, the team's performance improved a lot as compared to 2008 as the team finished runners-up in South Africa.
Rating - 8.5/10
2010 - Anil Kumble's men finish third after reaching the top 4 by good luck
The tournament returned to India in the year 2010 as Royal Challengers Bangalore looked to continue their form of South Africa in the third season.
They suffered a defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders to kick off the season but the team bounced back in style winning four of its next six matches thanks to some match-winning performances by Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa, who re-joined the side in 2010.
Anil Kumble's men suffered a dip in form as they could win only three of their remaining seven matches.
They had 14 points to their name at the end of the league stage and were one among the four teams tied at 14 points after 14 league matches.
However, a superior net run-rate ensured that Bangalore notch the fourth position in the table and move on to the semi-finals.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians ended their journey in the semifinals as they defeated RCB by 35 runs. Bangalore, however, took part in the third place play-off, where they avenged their 2009 IPL final defeat against Deccan Chargers.
Kallis, Kumble and R Vinay Kumar were the top performers of the team as the trio helped the team finish in the top 4 for the second consecutive time.
Rating - 8/10
2011 - RCB loses in the final for the second time in three years
The league was expanded to 10 teams in 2011 and all the teams got changed completely as even RCB sported a new look for the fourth season of IPL.
They made some big signings like Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Saurabh Tiwary in the auction.
However, their season changed completely when Chris Gayle joined the squad as a replacement for Dirk Nannes mid-season.
Gayle shook the entire league with his arrival and amassed over 600 runs in the 12 matches he played.
The Jamaican scored two hundreds in the season including one against his former team Kolkata Knight Riders in his debut match for RCB.
Virat Kohli scored 557 runs in the league and the Gayle-Kohli duo helped the team finish at the top of the points table with 19 points.
The play-offs structure was changed in 2011 as the top two teams had a couple of chances to reach the final.
RCB defeated Chennai Super Kings in the first Qualifier to reach their second IPL final but the men in yellow got the better of Daniel Vettori's men in the final as RCB failed to win the IPL.
This was the best IPL season for RCB and the fact that they finished at the top of a points table featuring 10 teams just signifies the above statement.
Rating - 9.5/10
2012 - Deccan Chargers throw Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the tournament in a thriller
In the year 2012, Royal Challengers Bangalore brought R Vinay Kumar back in their squad apart from retaining the core players of their 2011 team.
The team got off to a winning start by defeating Delhi Daredevils by 20 runs in their tournament opener.
However, they lost their next three games and failed to capture momentum early in the season. After 10 matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore were placed at the sixth position with nine points and this was when the men in red and gold stepped up in the tournament.
Bangalore went on to win four of their next five matches as a top 4 finish in the points table looked probable for RCB.
They were tied at 17 points with Chennai Super Kings before their last league match against bottom-placed Deccan Chargers, where a victory would have assured the Bengaluru based outfit a spot in the playoffs.
But, RCB failed to defeat the Chargers and crashed out of the tournament because of a poor net run rate.
The team started the tournament mildly before capturing momentum in the end but, a fifth-place finish was not something the RCB fans would have been satisfied with.
Rating - 5.5/10
2013 - Royal Challengers Bangalore finish 5th for the 2nd consecutive time
Royal Challengers Bangalore won their first match of the 2013 season by defeating Mumbai Indians by a close margin of two runs.
The team had made some drastic changes in their team as they bought RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Moises Henriques and Ravi Rampaul in the auction to strengthen their pace department.
Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli's performances met with full support from the bowlers. Royal Challengers Bangalore won six out of their first eight matches to take the pole position in the points table.
But, Kohli's men witnessed a dramatic dip in form as they slumped to the fourth position after losing five out of the next seven matches.
RCB won their last match with a huge margin but their chances of qualification depended on the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, the result did not go in RCB's way as SRH took the fourth position in the points table.
After a rocking start, RCB found a way to crash out of the tournament which disappointed the fans.
Rating - 6/10
2014 - RCB sign Yuvraj Singh for 14 crores yet took the seventh position
Royal Challengers Bangalore made the headlines before the 2014 season by signing Yuvraj Singh for a whopping amount of 14 crores.
However, the all-rounder could not change RCB's fortune as the team finished at the seventh position in the points table. The season's initial matches took place in the U.A.E where RCB managed to win two out of their five matches.
When the league returned to India, RCB failed to make the most out of the home conditions as they could win only three more matches in the season.
This was one of the worst seasons for Virat Kohli because he failed miserably both as a captain as well as a batsman.
Kohli averaged just above 27 in the tournament, which saw AB de Villiers emerge as the leading run scorer for RCB in the season.
In the bowling department, Varun Aaron picked 16 wickets in 10 matches but leaked runs at a hammer-aging rate.
The Bangalore franchise failed to light up the 2014 season as they finished at the 7th position.
Rating - 3.5/10
2015 - Gayle, Kohli and De Villiers help Royal Challengers finish at the third position
The team released Yuvraj Singh ahead of the 2015 season and signed Dinesh Karthik for 10.5 crores INR for the tournament.
But, the wicket-keeper batsman failed to make an impact on the RCB side which was running on the shoulders of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle.
All the three batsmen were in the top 10 of the leading run-scorers chart as they helped RCB finish at the third position in the points table.
The Bangalore side defeated Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator to progress to Qualifier 2 but a strong batting performance from CSK's Micheal Hussey ensured that RCB do not make it to the final of the 2015 season.
This season featured some memorable performances from AB de Villiers who established himself as a key player of RCB.
The 2015 season saw RCB rise up from the seventh position to the third position which shows that the team improved a lot in 2015.
Rating - 7/10
2016 - The final's curse continues as RCB lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final
The franchise changed its jersey color from red and gold to red and black and also changed its roster by releasing Dinesh Karthik and buying Shane Watson in the auction.
The team owners were also changed due to some financial issues as RCB franchise got completely revamped in the year 2016.
The 2016 season will always be remembered for Virat Kohli's dedication to the game as the captain of RCB registered four centuries to his name in IPL 2016, along with scoring one in a must-win game against KXIP with stitches on his wrist.
Kohli, KL Rahul and De Villiers led the team to a second position finish in the points table.
RCB battled debutantes Gujarat Lions in the first Qualifier and a special innings from AB de Villiers ensured that RCB reach their third IPL final. Sunrisers Hyderabad next defeated Gujarat Lions to enter the final.
The final was played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium but RCB failed to take the home advantage as they lost the final by a close margin of eight runs.
Virat Kohli and his men made a thumping comeback in the season to reach the final but once again failed to lift the trophy despite reaching very close.
Rating - 9/10
2017 - Injuries and poor form hit RCB as they took the wooden spoon for the first time
2017 can be hailed as the worst season of the Royal Challengers Bangalore as the team never got going and made a number of dubious records to their name.
In a league match against Kolkata Knight Riders, the entire RCB unit was skittled out for 49 runs inside 10 overs as they broke the record of the lowest team total in IPL history.
The story remained the same for the entire season as they lost a lot of matches in a lop-sided manner.
Key players like KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc were injured while new signee Tymal Mills failed totally as Bangalore managed to win only three out of their 14 matches.
Not even once did it look like RCB were in the tournament in the year 2017 and the wooden spoon finish hurt the fans a lot.
Rating - 1.5/10
2018 - New RCB, same result
RCB retained only Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfraz Khan ahead of the 2018 season and made some interesting purchases at the auction.
They roped in the services of Umesh Yadav, Moeen Ali, Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock, Corey Anderson and Chris Woakes but these players could not change RCB's fortune as they once again missed out on a playoff spot by a whisker.
Royal Challengers had lots of ups and downs in the 2018 season but it all came down to a must-win match against Rajasthan Royals at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which separated RCB and the fourth position in the points table. However, RCB failed to defeat the Royals and finished at the sixth spot in the table.
Rating - 5/10
With the 2019 season of IPL commencing soon, where do you expect the Royal Challengers Bangalore to finish in the points table? Share your answers in the comments box below.
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