Royal Challengers Bangalore are a franchise with perhaps the biggest and most passionate fans however, the Indian Premier League title has eluded them since the inception of the tournament and in its 18th edition, RCB hope to change that.
The 2024 season for the men in red and black, was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. After losing 7 out of their first 8 matches, RCB went on a fairytale run and won their final 6 matches, qualifying for the playoffs but ultimately losing the Eliminator to the Rajasthan Royals.
Royal Challengers Bangalore preview and strengths
Heading into the mega auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore retained just three players: the world’s best Virat Kohli, swashbuckling batsman Rajat Patidar and left-arm pacer Yash Dayal. This meant they had a good budget on their hands to build a good team in the auction.
After the release of Faf Du Plessis, RCB acquired the services of Phil Salt up the order, who is likely to open the batting along with last year’s leading run-scorer, Virat Kohli. Liam Livingstone, Tim David provide them with some solid power hitting, and to add to that is the West Indian all-rounder, Romario Shepherd.
Even though buying Jitesh Sharma for INR 11 crore seems expensive, he will play an important role as the wicket-keeper after the departure of Dinesh Karthik from the side.
As compared to last season, where they were heavily reliant on Kohli to score big, this year they have a batting order that complement each other very well. Kohli and Salt followed by newly appointed captain Rajat Patidar, exciting English talent Jacob Bethell and Jitesh Sharma makes for a decent top 5.
In the bowling department, the release of Mohammad Siraj was a surprising one, but the franchise has gone on to build a good attack in the auction.
Josh Hazlewood’s precision will be key at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the dimensions offer bowlers no room for error. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was an expensive pick but has the skills to show for it. Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma are the main spinners, with Tim David, Livingstone and Bethell also possessing the ability of rolling their arm around.
Royal Challengers Bangalore weaknesses
Even though on paper the RCB batting order looks lethal on its day, the middle order isn’t often consistent. Livingstone seems out of form, Bethell did not have a good time playing in India in the recent white-ball series and Tim David struggles against spinners.
The only batsman in the top 5 who seems high on confidence is Virat Kohli because Phil Salt had an absolute horror show in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Furthermore, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling will rely on Hazlewood for the most part but the Australian is returning after a long time since suffering an injury. RCB would hope their bowling fortunes change with Hazlewood’s return.
Bowlers like Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, and Shepherd are sometimes good but they more often than not go for runs, and with such small boundaries, they will need to be at their best if called upon. The middle over bowling is a concern for RCB as they consist of more bits and pieces bowlers. Suyash Sharma and Rasikh Salam although exciting, are uncapped and including both in the lineup could backfire.
Moreover, with such a squad, the Bangalore management will need to nail the team combinations, otherwise the entire season would be a hot mess. Who will they include as the left-hander in the side? Bethell, who is inexperienced, or Devdutt Padikkal who hasn’t shown his class in the IPL so far. Both of them making the lineup seems unlikely. Selecting the right lineup ahead of every match will be a headache – after all, playing in the best league comes with its challenges.
Royal Challengers Bangalore probable XI
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma. Impact player: Tim David
