If there is one team that has disappointed the most ever since the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it will arguably be the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). They are the perennial underachievers of the IPL. Despite having some of the biggest names of T20 cricket, they haven’t been able to get over the line. The Bangalore franchise have made it to the playoffs only on five occasions and they’ve appeared in the final thrice. But the IPL title has always eluded them. They’ve choked under pressure quite a few times and just haven’t been able to find a way. Moreover, since reaching the final in the 2016 season, they’ve been a big let-down and RCB have finished with the wooden spoon twice in the last three seasons.
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After finishing last in 2019, they had retained just 13 players. RCB underwent a mini-overhaul and bought eight more players for the 2020 season. The likes of Aaron Finch, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn are the big names that join RCB’s squad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad
Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Pavan Deshpande, Parthiv Patel (wk), Joshua Philippe (wk), Shahbaz Ahmad
Strengths
Strong batting line-up
As always, there is no doubt about RCB’s batting line-up. They boast of a formidable batting core. With the two stars (Kohli and de Villiers) already present and set to bat at number 3 and 4 respectively, Finch’s addition at the top gives them a solid look and the Aussie white-ball skipper will likely open with Parthiv Patel who was decent last season. They also have Moeen Ali and Chris Morris to follow who can provide the fireworks at the death.
Depth in the squad
RCB used to be all about two players – Kohli and de Villiers. If they fire, RCB will be in a good position and in fact, the two of them have driven the franchise for long now. However, RCB seem to have enough depth in their squad this year. Aaron Finch’s addition takes some load off the two stalwarts. Chris Morris lends great balance to the side and some firepower lower down the order. Dale Steyn returns after impressing in two games last season. Moreover, RCB seem to have a backup for almost every position. Moeen Ali, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini and Josh Phillipe have been very impressive in T20 cricket over in recent times and they add variety to the squad.
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Weaknesses
Death bowling
Year after year, there’s been one problem that haunts RCB and that is their death bowling. Even last season, they lost a couple of games solely due to the inability of the bowlers to deliver at the death. In fact, they lost from commanding positions as well. It may not be any different this time either. RCB’s death bowling woes look set to continue and extend into the 2020 season of the IPL as well. Make no mistake, they have a good solid fast bowling attack. They have a settled Indian fast bowling core in Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj. However, Saini has shown signs that he can be trusted at the death but tends to blow hot and cold. On the other hand, Yadav and Siraj have leaked too many runs in the past. There is the option of Chris Morris as well who is known for his death bowling but he is inconsistent as well. Meanwhile, the likes of Dale Steyn and Kane Richardson aren’t as efficient at the death.
Key players
Aaron Finch: The batting responsibility was largely shared between skipper Kohli and de Villiers. However, the inclusion of Finch changes the dimension of the top-order. He is a fine T20 player and can bash away at the top and get big scores. RCB will hope that Finch’s addition takes quite a bit of pressure off the two big stars and they can play freely in their respective roles. Finch’s form might be crucial to RCB’s chances this year.
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Chris Morris: RCB went all out for Chris Morris. After missing out on Pat Cummins, they did not want to leave the South African all-rounder behind. They bought him for INR 10 crore which is their costliest bid this season in the auction. Morris adds some depth in the batting order and also lends balance to the side. He is likely to play a key role at No. 7. He has the ability to tonk the ball and hit the big shots. Moreover, Morris can bowl at pace and has a very good yorker. RCB will be looking upto him to get the job done at the death.
Yuzvendra Chahal: We often talk about the batsmen in RCB but tend to forget that there is one man who has been consistently performing with the ball. Yuzvendra Chahal has been a key figure in the RCB bowling attack for the last few years. He is a genuine wicket-taker and can pick wickets even at the Chinnaswamy which is termed as a bowler’s graveyard. Hence, once again, he will be crucial in the middle and even at the death as there have been multiple instances where Kohli has thrown the ball to his lead spinner post the 16th over.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Probable Playing XI
Virat Kohli ©, Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers (wk), Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal
