Royal Challengers Bangalore – IPL 2021 Preview

If spending is an art, then Royal Challengers Bangalore are the artist. No matter how they perform in the Indian Premier League, they know how to spend big in the auction. The Royal Challengers Bangalore will extend efforts to win their first-ever IPL title in the 14th edition of IPL. 10Cric has placed odds at 5.70 on RCB making them the second favorite team to win the IPL title. Will they manage to win their first silverware or will it be another unsuccessful campaign for them? Let’s find out.

History of Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers were part of the first-ever IPL match played. They lost miserably in their first outing to Kolkata Knight Riders by 140 runs. They finished 7th in the first edition of the IPL. Since then, the RCB reinforced their squad every season to get their hands on the IPL trophy. Various Big names like Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pieterson, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, and Mitchell Starc graced RCB with their presence. With the current captain, Virat Kohli, and the fan-favorite AB de Villiers, the RCB could not win a single IPL title yet.

They came as close as to finish runner-up in the 2nd (2009), 4th (2011), and 9th (2016) edition of IPL. In 2016, they had everything to win the title with Virat Kohli scoring 973 runs at an average of 81.08 (4 centuries) and Yuzvendra Chahal picking 21 wickets at an average of 19.09. Yet they suffered heartbreak in the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RCB IPL 2021 Auction

IPL Auction 2021 was kind of a Thanksgiving Day for RCB. They went into the auction held at Chennai with a purse of INR 35.90 crore (Approx. USD 4.93 million) and went out with INR 50 lakhs (Approx. USD 68637). With 13 slots (4 overseas) vacant in the squad, they bought 8 players (3 overseas) from the pool.

Living up to the name, RCB went all-in for another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who cost them INR 14.25 crore (USD 1.96 million). They tried hard to re-sign their released player Chris Morris and went as long as INR 9.75 crore (INR 25 lakhs less than what they bought him earlier).

In the middle-stage of the auction, they signed three rookies - Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, and Mohammed Azharudden for their base price of INR 20 lakhs (USD 27K) each. With Approximately INR 21 crore in hand, they bullied Punjab Kings to land New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson in the RCB den. Well, they did not stop there and went on to sign 37-year-old Australian bowling all-rounder Daniel Christian for INR 4.80 crore (USD 659K). With INR 90 lakhs remaining in their purse, they jumped in the auction for the last time to sign two more rookies - Suyash Prabhudesai & K Srikar Bharat for INR 20 lakhs each.

Players out: Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Gurkeerat Mann

Players in: Kyle Jamieson (INR 15 crore), Glenn Maxwell (INR 14.25 crore), Daniel Christian (INR 4.8 crore), Sachin Baby (INR 20 lakh), Rajat Patidar (INR 20 lakh), Mohammed Azharuddeen (INR 20 lakh), Suyash Prabhudesai (INR 20 lakh), KS Bharat (INR 20 lakh)

Key Players for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli: King Kohli has carried RCB since the inaugural of IPL. With 5878 runs in 192 games at an average of 38.16 and 5 hundred, he is undoubtedly the most important player for RCB.

Devdutt Padikkal: Padikkal came as a surprise package for RCB. Playing his first IPL last season, he scored 473 runs in 15 matches to carry the opener’s slot throughout the season. He is currently in top-notch form playing Vijay Hazare Trophy and has scored four centuries in a row.

Yuzvendra Chahal: Chahal is the leading wicket-taker for RCB for the last two seasons and he has done that in 2015 & 2016 too. He has 121 wickets in 99 matches at an average of 22.50 and an economy of 7.67.

Joshua Phillipe: Phillipe will be opening for RCB this season. He was the third-leading scorer in the Big bash this season with 508 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 149.41 and was named as a player of the tournament.

RCB Squad for IPL 2021

Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe (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, KS Bharat

Royal Challengers Bangalore Odds to Win IPL 2021 at 10CRIC

10Cric that provide the best IPL odds has placed RCB at 5.70 for IPL 2021. According to these cricket betting odds, they are the second favorite in the IPL betting circle to win the IPL 2021. With the play-offs stage predicted by the bookies, betting on RCB is a risky but calculated choice for IPL betting.

RCB Expectations for IPL 2021

Due to COVID, IPL governing council will be conducting games at neutral venues for all the teams. This might be a good sign for RCB as they have a poor record at their home stadium. With 5 games at Kolkata and 4 at Ahmedabad, let’s see how the season will pan out for RCB against their rivals.

1. Chennai Super Kings

RCB and CSK are expected to share one game each against each other. It has written in history that released players make the hell out of the RCB when they first come face to face. With Moeen Ali in the yellow color, RCB will lose the 1st match against CSK and win the returning leg at Eden Gardens.

2. Mumbai Indians

Both games against Mumbai Indians will be extremely tough for RCB. The reigning champions will be expected to beat RCB in both games with the amount of firepower and experience in each section they have.

3. Kolkata Knight Riders

RCB will win both games against KKR. KKR has struggled a lot last season and had an average auction this year.

Conclusion for RCB in IPL 2021:

With a happening auction this year, RCB is geared up to take the IPL challenge for the 14th time. With the new addition of big players in the squad, let’s hope they succeed to win their first IPL trophy this season.