Best known by their tagline “Ee Saala cup Namde” (The cup is ours this time) than their name, one team that has won the hearts every season is the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Bengaluru based IPL franchise was bought by the United Spirits and named Rahul Dravid as their captain in the inaugural season. The team included a lot of big names such as Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Ross Taylor, Anil Kimble, Zaheer Khan, Mark Boucher and Misbah-Ul-Haq. They also signed the then young under-19 winning captain Virat Kohli. 2008 was a season to forget for RCB as they did not get the results they expected.
Over the period, RCB has emerged as one of the strongest teams in IPL history and have had and are having some of the biggest names in the IPL. Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Vettori, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ravi Rampaul, Tim Southee, AB de Villiers, Muralitharan and Glenn Maxwell are a few big foreign names in the RCB.
RCB have also had certain big Indian names in their squad. Players like Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, RP Singh and Jaydev Unadkat have played for RCB apart from skipper Kohli.
RCB have also produced some young Indian talent. Chahal, Saini, Siraj, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Srinath Arvind, Arun Karthik are some of the young Indian talent discovered and developed by RCB.
Will anyone ever forget the deadly opening combination of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle in the IPL? Gayle had been one of the faces of RCB since they picked him as a replacement in 2011. That turned out to be a masterful move as he almost turned the fortunes of RCB. He pairing with Virat at the top, and AB to follow was literally a nightmare for the bowlers.
When you talk about RCB, you definitely would have to talk about AB. Such an impact player who can bat 360 degrees. And when he bats, even the opposition bowlers and fielders will watch it in awe. Referred to as the ‘superman’ of RCB, AB has single handedly won many games for RCB and is still doing the same at the age of 37.
Bowling has been an issue for RCB from the beginning and that was what was letting them down in the first few seasons. But off late, they have planned and worked that out well with the likes of Siraj, Chahal, Sundar and other bowlers stepping up to the task. Their bowling improvement was evident when they defended two runs off the last ball with MS Dhoni on strike and the second instance where Saini conceeded just 7 in the super over against the mighty Mumbai Indians batters.
The last, but the most important player to talk about when it comes to RCB is captain Kohli. The team dynamics have vastly changed since he took over the captaincy from Vettori in 2011. Since then, RCB has looked a completely different side than it used to be. Kohli plays his heart out when it comes to playing for RCB and he loves the team so much since he has played for the team since its inception in 2008. Kohli is probably the only player to have played for the same team in the IPL since 2008.
Despite of having so many good memories and love around, RCB is yet to win that elusive IPL trophy. They have come so close many occasions, but still have not laid their hands on the beautiful trophy. And I believe that moment is not too far. Another biggest pillar of RCB is their fanbase. They have so much loyal fans that they support them even during their toughest times. Lots of life lessons to be learnt from RCB. And I hope RCB keeps winning hearts and games and may the day come when they win their first IPL trophy.
Hari's blogs! 