Arguably the most popular franchise not to have won the Indian Premier League, Royal Challengers Bangalore once again head into a season with cause for optimism. That has, though, been slightly dented by injuries to some key players.
On the plus side, one of their overseas stars, Glenn Maxwell, has made a good recovery from an injury that ruled him out of the 2022/23 Big Bash League. Virat Kohli remains a huge force within the game and will once again look to provide the spark to lead his team to their maiden IPL title.
Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL 2022 performance
It was a solid season in 2022 for RCB as they finished in the top four in the league stage and made the playoffs. They came through the Eliminator but were ultimately knocked out by Rajasthan Royals in the second Qualifier.
It was Faf du Plessis who led the run-scoring charts, amassing 468 runs in 16 innings. Rajat Patidar was arguably the star man, though, as he racked up 333 runs in just seven innings, including an incredible unbeaten 112 in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants. Kohli had a very disappointing season by his standards, scoring just 341 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 116.
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| Rajat Patidar emerged as one of RCB's key performers in IPL 2022 and struck an incredible hundred in the Eliminator, while Dinesh Karthik provided remarkable consistency with the bat at the death [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
On the other side of things, Dinesh Karthik provided a brilliant amount of consistency as a finisher lower down the order, scoring his 330 runs with a mammoth strike rate of 183.3; the 37-year-old also finished not out in ten of his 16 innings. Maxwell was another to score over 300, scoring his at a strike rate of 169.1.
Wanindu Hasaranga proved his worth as one of the world's premier wicket-takers as he picked up 26 scalps, just one behind eventual Purple Cap winner and RCB old boy Yuzvendra Chahal. Seamers Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel took 39 wickets between them but their fellow pacer Mohammad Siraj had a season to forget. The India quick picked up just nine wickets in 15 matches and was expensive while doing so, with an economy of 10.07.
What squad changes have Royal Challengers Bangalore made via the IPL auction?
It was a quiet off-season for RCB, with only a small amount of players released and no real notable names, especially within the context of the 2022 season; Sherfane Rutherford was the biggest of the names to not be retained ahead of the auction.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was a fairly similar story at the 2023 IPL auction, with only a couple of notable signatures snared. England duo Will Jacks and Reece Topley were picked up for around £315,000 and £185,000 respectively. Sadly, though, Jacks has since been ruled out for the entirety of the season and was replaced by New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell, who impressed for the Kiwis against India.
How is the squad shaping up ahead of the start of IPL 2023?
Potential starting XI: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
The injury to Jacks may have eased some selection headaches, with du Plessis and Maxwell two key players for RCB in the top order. Nevertheless, Bracewell's all-round ability will certainly be useful and they will still have the aggressive option of Finn Allen available to fill that particular void that Jacks has left. Patidar being out may allow for Anuj Rawat to have a chance to improve on his 2022 output.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile Hazlewood was a top performer for RCB last season, his injury may not be felt as much as Patidar's, with a couple of top overseas options available in Topley and David Willey. Siddarth Kaul and Akash Deep also provide domestic cover in the fast bowling department if Royal Challengers decide to initially use Hazlewood's overseas spot for an extra batter.
They could conceivably add Allen's aggressive style to balance out the top three with du Plessis and Kohli and use one of Deep or Kaul to replace Hazlewood.
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