Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is a franchise cricket team that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team is based in Bangalore, the capital city of the state of Karnataka in India, and is owned by United Spirits, a subsidiary of the British drinks company Diageo. The team has been a part of the IPL since its inception in 2008. In this article we will talk about Royal Challengers Bangalore latest team updates.
RCB has had a mixed bag of fortunes in the IPL over the years, having made it to the finals thrice, but are yet to win the coveted title. The team has always been known for their explosive batting lineup, with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Glenn Maxwell leading the charge in the previous seasons.
With IPL 2023 fast approaching, RCB will be looking to shed their “underachievers” tag and make a strong bid for their maiden IPL title. The team will have some exciting new additions to their squad, including the likes of Faf Du Plessis and Wanindu Hasaranga, which could provide a much-needed boost to their bowling department. RCB’s fans will be eagerly waiting to see if their team can finally break their IPL jinx and emerge victorious in the upcoming season.
RCB performance in Auction
RCB bought the following players at 2023 auction.
- Reece Topley (INR 1.9 crore)
- Himanshu Sharma (INR 20 lakh)
- Will Jacks (INR 3.2 crore)
- Manoj Bhandage (INR 20 lakh)
- Rajan Kumar (INR 70 lakh)
- Avinash Singh (INR 60 lakh)
- Sonu Yadav (INR 20 lakh)
Royal Challengers Bangalore made some good and underrated buys at the IPL 2022 mega auction. It was noted that they aimed towards investing in veterans as well as youngsters.
Royal Challengers Bangalore retained only three players ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. RCB retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. They bought only 19 players in the mega auction to complete their 2022 squad. The management didn’t try much to buy their old players except Harshal Patel. They went all big to bring back the purple cap winner. Overall, RCB were able to build a mediocre squad.
RCB’s most expensive picks at the mega auction were:
- Indian all-rounder Harshal Patel (Rs 10.75 cr)
- Sri Lankan wrist-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 10.75 cr)
- Australia’s lethal pacer Josh Hazlewood (Rs 7.75 cr)
- South Africa’s former captain Faf du Plessis (Rs 7 cr)
Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL 2023 Complete Squad
Wicketkeepers: Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik.
Batters: Faf du Plessis (SA), Finn Allen (NZ), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks (ENG).
All-rounders: Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell (AUS), Shahbaz Ahmed, Sonu Yadav, Manoj Bhandage.
Bowlers: Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood (AUS), Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, David Willey (ENG), Avinash Singh, Rajan Kumar, Reece Topley (ENG), Himanshu Sharma.
IPL 2023 : Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad Analysis
Batsmen :
RCB has suffered a huge setback after the retirement of AB De Villiers. He was a kind of player who was scoring runs at a brisk rate in the middle and death overs with consistency. In his absence, Faf need to take care that the team did not crushed in the starting overs. Virat Kohli has relinquished himself from captaincy after leading RCB for nine seasons. So we might see a new version of Kohli in this season.
Wicketkeepers :
The spot of wicket-keeper will be taken by Dinesh Karthik. RCB has not paid much attention to its wicket-keeper in the previous seasons. ABD was handed over the gloves in IPL 2021 who is not a regular keeper. However this time the management took it to its concern and purchased a proper wicket-keeper batsman from the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. Anuj Rawat is the backup option for this spot.
All-Rounders :
RCB spend 10.75 crores to brought in Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. This move was a kind of gamble because he does not have any experience in IPL. He was a part of RCB but did not get opportunity to prove himself. Beside him, RCB have strong all-rounders like Maxwell and Sherfane Rutherford in the squad who can give the Bangalore-based outfit the added push.
Bowlers :
This time Bangalore have a balance pace attack so death overs will not be a problem for them. They will attack the opposition with the trio of their fast bowlers : Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel. Siddharth Kaul and David Willey are the backup options for fast bowling.
RCB might face an issue in their spin bowling. Chahal had been a crucial match winner for RCB in the past seasons. In his absence, Hasaranga will have to take in charge of spin bowling. Karn Sharma is there but he is unlikely to find a place in the RCB playing 11 2023.
RCB IPL 2023 Squad Preview
The management of Royal Challenger Bangalore decided to pick up only 22 players out of the possible 25. This was quite shocking because they had 1.55 crore in the bank and did not utilise that amount. They could have buy a few more quality player to fill in the backup options.
RCB 2023 Squad can be termed as balanced but it lacks the desired depth.
RCB Probable Playing XI for IPL 2023
- Faf du Plessis
- Virat Kohli
- Mahipal Lomror
- Glenn Maxwell
- Dinesh Karthik (wk)
- Shahbaz Nadeem
- Wanindu Hasaranga
- Harshal Patel
- Shahbaz Ahmed
- Mohammed Siraj
- Josh Hazlewood
