IPL 2018 – Royal Challengers Bangalore Team Preview

Captain: Virat Kohli.

Coach: Daniel Vettori.

Home Ground: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

IPL 2017 Result: 8th place.

Best Result: Runners up in 2009, 2011, 2016.

Released: KL Rahul, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Kedar Jadhav, Chris Gayle, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Vishnu Vinod, Sreenath Aravind, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Adam Milne, Iqbal Abdulla, Billy Stanlake, Tymal Mills, Samuel Badree, Tabraiz Shamsi, Praveen Dubey.

Purchased: Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Mandeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Anirudha Joshi, Parthiv Patel, Tim Southee, ~~Nathan Coulter-Nile~~, Pavan Deshpande, Corey Anderson.

This is the one team in the Indian Premier League that has earned the tag of ‘chokers’, due to reaching the finals thrice since the inaugural season in 2008, but never being able to lift the trophy. Every year, they’ve made huge team and combination changes, and have been known for chopping and changing their line-up in every match.

They retained AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, both captains of their respective national teams, and both among the best batsmen in world cricket at the moment. These two have had epic partnerships together in the IPL in the past, and them together could be dangerous to the oppositions. They also purchased Brendon McCullum in the IPL 2018 auction, to replace the waning talent of Christopher Henry Gayle.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore had a pathetic year in IPL 2017 and were particularly ridiculed for getting 49 all out against Kolkata in one league game. What do they end up doing? They go ahead and buy all four bowlers who did the damage that day – Woakes, de Grandhomme, Umesh and Coulter-Nile. Is this a smart, strategic move? Or a arrogant one, to prove a point?

Coulter-Nile however, is out with an injury and has been replaced by Corey Anderson. I would personally be very disappointed if RCB don’t reach far in IPL 2018, but the main question is – when will they ever win the trophy? They have a good squad at the moment. Not the best squad, but one good enough to take them all the way.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad for IPL 2018:

Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Mandeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Corey Anderson, ~~Nathan Coulter-Nile~~, Mohammed Siraj, Anirudha Joshi, Parthiv Patel, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee, Pavan Deshpande.

What’s the best part about this team is that they have McCullum and Kohli, both of whom have been very influential captains in the past. Many cricketers have admitted to personal growth under these two stalwarts and that could be a huge plus. With de Kock, McCullum and de Villiers being certain starters, the fourth overseas player’s spot will be a huge dilemma for RCB in IPL 2018.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad for IPL 2018:

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