As the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League gets underway, we preview the teams in contention, analyse their past performances and look at the key players in the franchise. In this piece, we look at Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team with exciting talent that again promises a lot.
Past performances: Bangalore began the IPL on a disastrous note. They were among the worst sides in the event in 2008, and owing to the number of veterans in the side were termed as Daddy’s Army. They showed drastic improvement soon though. They were the runners-up in 2009 and 2011 and lost in the semi-finals in 2010. However, in the last two seasons they have failed to progress past the group stage, which is why they would be keen to put up an improved show this time round.
Key players
Chris Gayle: If RCB have competed handsomely in the last few seasons, the tall West Indian has almost single-handedly been responsible for the same. Gayle has played some sensational knocks to take Bangalore to victory from improbable positions. He has smashed the ball with such brute force that bowlers have literally been brought to their feet. Unlike the T20 semi-final against Sri Lanka where Gayle crawled along, the southpaw has had a destructive impact on the opponents in the IPL. The sight of him at the batting crease has been enough to make bowlers nervous. Over the last two seasons, Gayle has been unstoppable, and Bangalore would be hoping for an encore from their most dangerous batsman.
Virat Kohli: Irrespective ofthe format, Kohli is the man to have in your side. He has proved himself in all formats and across continents. As such, the IPL should be a cakewalk for Kohli. He will be going into the IPL on a real high having played some sensational knocks in India’s World T20 campaign. Having said that, rarely in the last few years has Kohli gone into a series low on runs and confidence. The greatest asset Kohli possesses is the fact that he can score at an extremely brisk pace without having to slog the ball. Nothing less would be expected of the RCB skipper.
Mitchell Starc: He is not a big name, but the lack of bowling options means RCB would depend a lot on the Aussie left-arm pacer. Starc is a handy fast bowler, who can trouble batsmen if he gets his line and length right. He has the pace needed to make opponents jump, but he also has a tendency of going for runs on wayward days. The motivation for Starc in this IPL would be that an impressive performance would also help revive his unsteady international career.
Other important players: AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Albie Morkel and Ravi Rampaul.
Men who matter off the field
Owner: Vijay Mallya
CEO: Brijesh Patel
Team manager: Avinash Vaidya
Head Coach: Daniel Vettori
Bowling Coach: Allan Donald
Batting & Fielding Coach: Trent Woodhill
--By A Cricket Analyst
