IPL 2021 | Team Preview: New troops, old fan base, RCB line up to conquer throne
It was 2018 when I got the first opportunity to cover an IPL match. Royal Challengers Bangalore were up against the Delhi franchise who were then known as Delhi Daredevils at the Arun Jaitley Stadium (then called Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium). We have often seen that the home side is thoroughly backed by the crowd at the other venue but this was not the case when DD locked horns with RCB in Delhi. To my surprise, the RCB team had more support from the crowd in comparison to the home side. Captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers stitched a vital partnership and won the match for their team. Whil AB and Kohli won the match for RCB, the fans in the stands celebrated the visitors’ victory. Such is the excitement when the RCB team takes the field. But is the team only there in the league to produce some fantastic performances, attract the crowd and then bow out of the tournament. Will this excitement and leisure be ever enough to tell the caliber that the team has? Well, as a Bangalore fan, I myself joke about how this team is all about entertaining the crowd only. But somewhere deep down, I too feel sad that the team doesn’t have a single IPL trophy in their kitty despite making it to the finals thrice. I feel sad about how the franchise let go off someone like Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Mandeep Singh. An interesting fact about the above mentioned players is that all of them now play for Punjab Kings. But the bygones and bygones. The fans can’t crib about what has been lost while the management now needs to focus on the upcoming season. The money has been spent on the players in the mini auctions and now is the time to make new strategies. The plans that will work. RCB pay big to overseas players Bangalore spent some big amount of money on Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson and Daniel Christian while also bought some uncapped players like Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen and Suyash Prabhudessai. Maxwell in fact became one of the costliest buys in the IPL 2021 mini auctions after RCB snapped him for a sum of Rs. 14.25 Cr. Jamieson too received some big amount of money after he was bought for Rs.15 crore while Christian went to the franchise for Rs.4.8 crore. While RCB spent a huge amount of money on the foreign recruits, they played it smart when it came to the uncapped players. Sachin Baby who has played for the side in the earlier editions was bought back by RCB for a base price of Rs 20 lakh while Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen who notched up a hundred during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 and made headlines, Prabhudessai were all bought for their base price of Rs 20 lakh by the franchise. Finn Allen was brought in as the replacement for Josh Philippe who opted out of the IPL 2021 citing personal reasons. RCB will also have the services of Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel. The two players were traded from Delhi Capitals to RCB. Harshal has also played for the Bangalore franchise in earlier seasons of the cash-rich league. Initially, it was thought that RCB have once again made a blunder after spending more than half of the money in the purse on two players but they did play well in getting the uncapped lads. Full Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Finn Allen (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat Supports Staff Director Of Cricketing Operations: Mike Hesson, Head Coach: Simon Katich, Head of Scouting and fielding coach: Malolan Rangarajan, Batting and Spin-bowling coach: Sridharan Sriram, Sanjay Bangar: Batting consultant, Adam Griffith: Bowling coach, Shankar Basu: Strength and Conditioning Coach, Evan Speechly: Team physio, Navita Gautam: Sports Massage Therapist, Anand Kripalu: Chairman, RCB, Rajesh Menon: Vice President and Head, RCB, Soumyadeep Pyne: Team manager, Ajith Ramamurthy: Head of Content and Digital, RCB. Glenn Maxwell: X-factor or risky pick? The Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is known for his three-dimensional image in the cricketing circuit. Maxwell has the ability to score runs at a brisk pace, can chip in with few overs with the ball and is brilliant when it comes to the fielding. In 306 T20s that Maxwell has been a part of, he has scored over 6000 runs at an average of 27 and a strike-rate of 152 while has picked 110 wickets at an economy of 7.70 which is pretty impressive when it comes to the shorter format of the game. But the concern that the RCB management would have is his performance in the IPL. Being a part of three franchises, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Maxwell has featured in 82 IPL matches and has managed to score 1505 runs at an average of 22. Talking about his bowling stats, the Aussie cricketer has scalped just 19 wickets at an economy of 8.57. The Bangalore-based franchise would want Maxwell to turn fortunes for himself and the team with both bat and ball and give them fruitful results. RCB and batting firepower The Royal Challengers Bangalore are known for producing some exceptional performances with the bat. Whether it was Chris Gayle’s 175* against Pune Warriors India or it was captain Kohli’s form in the 2016 season where he scored 973 runs in the season that included four tons during the course, RCB have unfolded these kinds of performances on numerous occasions. Continuing their legacy, RCB have some of the most brutal batsmen in their ranks. Beginning with youngster Devdutt Padikkal who is in sublime form right from the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. He was the second highest run-scorer in the tournament after Prithvi Shaw. Next up is the young man from New Zealand, Finn Allen who is known for his aggressive batting and was among runs in the last few T20s that he played. Then comes the “Run Machine” Virat Kohli and his partner in record stands AB de Villiers. The two have been serving the RCB together for a very long time now and have notched up numerous records together. While Kohli can score big runs, de Villiers is capable of producing brisk knocks at any given stage of the innings. Apart from these batsmen, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Azharuddeen and Washington Sundar can also score some quick runs for the side. To sum up, RCB don’t really have any glitches when it comes to their batting unit and if the batsmen go all guns blazing, the opposition bowling line up would be under tremendous pressure. Problem of plenty pacers Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson and Kane Richardson are the foreign players in the pacers list alongside Indian seamers like Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Harshal Patel. Now, with only four overseas spot up for grabs in the line up, it is pretty certain that the bowlers will have maximum of two of these with one pretty evidently going to Sams who is a left-arm pacer and can chip in with some runs as well. RCB have anyhow been missing the services of a left-arm pacer since Mitchell Starc has been out of the scheme. So, if Sams finds a spot for himself, then RCB will only have one overseas place left in the XI. Now with only one slot left for the taking, it would be either Jamieson or Richardson who will find themselves a place in the XI. It is surely going to be a tough call for a team that has spent almost Rs 20 Cr in fetching the two players during the auctions. Nevertheless, as they say there is blessing in disguise, so is the case with RCB. With two front-line right arm pacer in its armour, the Virat Kohl-led side can nullify the void created by Dale Steyn after he opted out of the IPL 2021. Coming down to the spin bowling attack, Sundar has been one of the most impressive spinners when it is about bowling in the power play overs. He doesn’t really leak runs and can resist the batsmen in the initial stages of the game. Adam Zampa will miss the starting phase of the IPL season this year, Yuzvendra Chahal who has been a part of the franchise for a very long time now will have the onus of keeping the opposition silent in the middle overs. Neutral Venue- A curse for RCB? RCB begin their campaign against Mumbai Indians in Chennai and play the next two matches at the same venue which is relatively a slow track. The side will then move to Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata for the remaining matches. Mumbai and Ahmedabad will offer the tracks where the ball comes on to the bat while the pacers can get some advantage if they have the ability to create problems for the batsmen. With pacers like Siraj, Saini, Jamieson, Sams and Richardson in their ranks, RCB can easily dominate the opposition peppering them with some short stuff. While the pacers can extract something out of these tracks, RCB have batsmen like Kohli, de Villiers and Maxwell who can be dangerous and lethal at any venue. Kohli can stick around and hold one end, Padikkal, AB and Maxwell can push the paddle and accelerate the run rate whenever required. RCB will conclude the league stage in Kolkata. The track in the city might provide some help to the wrist spinners at that point of the tournament. What are the chances? RCB have always been one of the contenders of making it to the play-offs. Whether they make it through or don’t can only be judged after the initial part of the league but the names that they have in the line up have the ability to get some positive results for the side in the upcoming edition of the IPL. Probable XI Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Daniel Sams, Mohammed Siraj, Kyle Jameison, Yuzvendra Chahal
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