Could this be the year when Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore finally end their IPL title drought?
As always, their hopes largely rest on Captain Kohli and batting mainstay A B de Villiers, but some smart buys at the IPL Players Auction have added much-needed balance to the squad.
Aaron Finch and Joshua Philippe have given RCB more options in the batting, while the experienced Chris Morris bolsters an already impressive pace attack, which also includes Dale Steyn, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and Isuru Udana.
RCB have quite a few options in the spin department including all-rounder Moeen Ali, the leg-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa along with Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi and Shahbaz Ahmed.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Parthiv Patel, Gurkeerat Singh, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Isuru Udana, Pawan Negi, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
Rajneesh Gupta presents Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL record over the years:
Result summary in each edition
| Year | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Abd | Win% | W/L Ratio | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 | 0.40 | 7th |
| 2009 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56.25 | 1.28 | 2nd |
| 2010 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | 1.00 | 3rd |
| 2011 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 62.50 | 1.66 | 2nd |
| 2012 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 53.33 | 1.14 | 5th |
| 2013 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | 1.33 | 5th |
| 2014 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 | 0.55 | 7th |
| 2015 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 57.14 | 1.33 | 3rd |
| 2016 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56.25 | 1.28 | 2nd |
| 2017 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23.07 | 0.30 | 8th |
| 2018 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42.85 | 0.75 | 6th |
| 2019 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 35.71 | 0.62 | 8th |
Note: Royal Challengers Bangalore’ match vs Rajasthan Royals in 2011 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017 were abandoned without a toss (included in the above tally for reference purpose).
Result summary for each opponent
| Vs | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win% | W/L Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chennai Super Kings | 24 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 33.33 | 0.53 |
| Deccan Chargers | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 45.45 | 0.83 |
| Delhi Capitals | 23 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 56.52 | 1.62 |
| Gujarat Lions | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 | 1.50 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | 1.00 |
| Kochi Tuskers Kerala | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 41.66 | 0.71 |
| Mumbai Indians | 25 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 36.00 | 0.56 |
| Pune Warriors India | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Rajasthan Royals | 20 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 40.00 | 0.80 |
| Rising Pune Supergiant | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | 1.00 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 42.85 | 0.85 |
In 2013 Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad, but beat Delhi Daredevils in Super Over after a tie.
Highest Totals
| Score | Overs | Vs | Venue | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 263-5 | 20 | Pune Warriors India | Bangalore | 2013 | Won |
| 248-3 | 20 | Gujarat Lions | Bangalore | 2016 | Won |
| 235-1 | 20 | Mumbai Indians | Mumbai | 2015 | Won |
| 227-4 | 20 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Bangalore | 2016 | Won |
| 226-3 | 20 | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2015 | Won |
| 218-6 | 20 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Bangalore | 2018 | Won |
| 215-1 | 20 | Delhi Daredevils | Delhi | 2012 | Won |
| 213-2 | 20 | Gujarat Lions | Rajkot | 2017 | Won |
| 213-4 | 20 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata | 2019 | Won |
| 211-3 | 15 | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2016 | Won |
Lowest Totals
| Score | Overs | Vs | Venue | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 9.4 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata | 2017 | Lost |
| 70 | 15 | Rajasthan Royals | Abu Dhabi | 2014 | Lost |
| 70 | 17.1 | Chennai Super Kings | Chennai | 2019 | Lost |
| 82 | 15.1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Bangalore | 2008 | Lost |
| 87 | 15.2 | Chennai Super Kings | Port Elizabeth | 2009 | Lost |
| 96-9 | 20 | Rising Pune Supergiant | Pune | 2017 | Lost |
| 105 | 20 | Rajasthan Royals | Centurion | 2009 | Lost |
| 113 | 19.5 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Hyderabad | 2019 | Lost |
| 115-9 | 20 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Ranchi | 2013 | Lost |
| 119 | 19 | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2017 | Lost |
Highest Individual innings
| Score | Player | Vs | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175* | CH Gayle | Pune Warriors India | Bangalore | 2013 |
| 133* | AB de Villiers | Mumbai Indians | Mumbai | 2015 |
| 129* | AB de Villiers | Gujarat Lions | Bangalore | 2016 |
| 128* | CH Gayle | Delhi Daredevils | Delhi | 2012 |
| 117 | CH Gayle | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2015 |
| 114* | MK Pandey | Deccan Chargers | Centurion | 2009 |
| 113 | V Kohli | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2016 |
| 109 | V Kohli | Gujarat Lions | Bangalore | 2016 |
| 108* | V Kohli | Rising Pune Supergiants | Bangalore | 2016 |
| 107 | CH Gayle | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2011 |
| 102* | CH Gayle | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata | 2011 |
| 100* | V Kohli | Gujarat Lions | Rajkot | 2016 |
| 100 | V Kohli | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata | 2019 |
Leading Batsmen
| Batsmen | Mts | Inns | NO | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V Kohli | 177 | 169 | 26 | 5412 | 113 | 37.84 | 131.61 | 5 | 36 |
| AB de Villiers | 126 | 116 | 27 | 3724 | 133* | 41.84 | 159.55 | 2 | 30 |
| CH Gayle | 85 | 84 | 11 | 3163 | 175* | 43.32 | 152.72 | 5 | 19 |
| JH Kallis | 42 | 42 | 6 | 1132 | 89* | 31.44 | 112.19 | 0 | 10 |
| RS Dravid | 43 | 37 | 3 | 898 | 75* | 26.41 | 122.84 | 0 | 4 |
| PA Patel | 32 | 32 | 3 | 731 | 67 | 25.20 | 130.07 | 0 | 4 |
| Mandeep Singh | 40 | 32 | 5 | 597 | 54* | 22.11 | 128.94 | 0 | 2 |
| TM Dilshan | 25 | 24 | 3 | 587 | 76* | 27.95 | 109.92 | 0 | 5 |
| RV Uthappa | 31 | 27 | 4 | 549 | 68* | 23.86 | 141.49 | 0 | 4 |
| LRPL Taylor | 22 | 22 | 5 | 517 | 81* | 30.41 | 142.03 | 0 | 2 |
Best Bowling
| Bowling | Player | Vs | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-5 | A Kumble | Rajasthan Royals | Cape Town | 2009 |
| 5-25 | JD Unadkat | Delhi Daredevils | Delhi | 2013 |
| 4-9 | S Badree | Mumbai Indians | Bangalore | 2017 |
| 4-11 | CJ Jordan | Gujarat Lions | Bangalore | 2016 |
| 4-14 | S Aravind | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2011 |
| 4-15 | MA Starc | Kings XI Punjab | Bangalore | 2015 |
| 4-16 | A Kumble | Deccan Chargers | Johannesburg | 2009 |
| 4-16 | A Kumble | Deccan Chargers | Mumbai DP | 2010 |
| 4-17 | Z Khan | Chennai Super Kings | Bangalore | 2013 |
| 4-19 | KP Appanna | Rajasthan Royals | Jaipur | 2012 |
Leading Bowlers
| Bowler | Mts | Wkts | Avg | RPO | Best | 4I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YS Chahal | 83 | 100 | 22.84 | 7.77 | 4-25 | 2 |
| R Vinay Kumar | 64 | 72 | 25.30 | 8.37 | 4-40 | 1 |
| Z Khan | 44 | 49 | 26.77 | 7.85 | 4-17 | 1 |
| S Aravind | 38 | 45 | 23.08 | 8.20 | 4-14 | 2 |
| A Kumble | 42 | 45 | 23.51 | 6.57 | 5-5 | 3 |
| MA Starc | 27 | 34 | 20.38 | 7.16 | 4-15 | 1 |
| HV Patel | 36 | 34 | 28.55 | 8.53 | 3-43 | 0 |
| P Kumar | 38 | 34 | 33.52 | 8.18 | 3-18 | 0 |
| DW Steyn | 30 | 31 | 25.45 | 6.92 | 3-18 | 0 |
Captains
| Player | Mts | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V Kohli | 110 | 49 | 55 | 2 | 4 | 44.55 |
| A Kumble | 26 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 57.69 |
| DL Vettori | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 54.54 |
| R Dravid | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| KP Pietersen | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| SR Watson | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
Most Appearances
| Mts | |
|---|---|
| V Kohli | 177 |
| AB de Villiers | 126 |
| CH Gayle | 85 |
| YS Chahal | 83 |
| R Vinay Kumar | 64 |
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