Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are the unluckiest team in the Indian Premier League. No matter how hard they try, their end results are disappointing more often than not. What’s more painful than losing the final on three occasions? It’s been 13 seasons and RCB haven’t won the title since the inaugural edition of the cash-rich league.
They reached the final for the first time under Anil Kumble’s captaincy against Deccan Chargers (now-defunct franchise) but they lost the final by just 6 runs. In 2011 season, RCB reached the final under Daniel Vettori but they lost to Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs.
However, in the 2016 season, they got all their bases covered and approached each and every game with grit and determination under the astute leadership traits of Virat Kohli. But they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 runs, in what was a close encounter. Three finals but no end result in all the three.
Needless to say, their fans have been passionate and loyal towards the franchise. They have often turned up in numbers to cheer for the team and their favourite players. Credit to RCB fans for supporting the team through thick and thin. Meanwhile, they released as many as 10 players from their squad ahead of the auction.
RCB bag Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson
RCB team management did some serious business at the mini-IPL auction by splashing the money to rope in three overseas players. New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson was the talk of the town as he was purchased for a record INR 15 crore by RCB. Even former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir opined that Jamieson could be the next Andre Russell in the making.
RCB placed the maximum bid for Jamieson at Rs 15 crore and thus becoming the third expensive player in IPL 2021 auction and the fourth expensive player in the history of the IPL. RCB showed interest to sign Glenn Maxwell for INR 14.25 crore. It is well-known that the all-rounder failed to deliver the goods in the previous season at Kings XI Punjab. However, this time around, he will be looking forward to stealing the show.
Players retained: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed and Pavan Deshpande.
Players released: Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Dale Steyn, Parthiv Patel and Umesh Yadav.
List of players bought: Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore complete squad IPL 2021:
Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande, Joshua Philippe, Shahbaz Ahamad, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Dan Christian, KS Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Daniel Sams, Harshal Patel.
