In IPL 2020, The Royal Challengers Bangalore was able to enter in Top 4, but the dream of being a titleholder still remains a dream till now. The search for silverware is on in the 14th edition of the IPL as well. They have made some structural changes for IPL 2021 in the hope that they can go the distance this year.
The team led by Virat Kohli would want to translate the potential into a title win, and here we offer a SWOT analysis of RCB ahead of IPL 2021.
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1. Strength
As in the previous years, the RCB’s pillars of strength in the batting will be captain Kohli and AB de Villiers. It has been decided that Kohli will open the innings in IPL 2021 along Devdutt Padikkal, a young man amidst a rich run of form. Kohli has showed impressive form against England in the T20Is. The Royal Challengers have also added more muscle in the shape of all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and pacer Kylie Jamieson. Kane Richardson too can be very effective in T20s. Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini constitute a very varied bowling unit. Finn Allen, who replaced Joshua Phillippe in the squad, too is a very promising wicket-keeper batsman.
2. Weakness
Maxwell had a dismal IPL 2020 for Punjab Kings but showed some good form against India in the ODIs after that. A 14.25 crore signing, RCB will be hoping for Maxwell to deliver a ‘Big Show.’ But Chahal, who has been RCB’s go-to bowler over the last few seasons, is going through a rough patch as England batsmen easily negated him in T20Is and ODIs. Siraj and Saini have the propensity to leak runs in this format. They also do not have a strong India domestic batsman apart from Kohli and Devdutt.
3. Full squad
Virat Kohli (Capt), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Kylie Jamieson, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Finn Allen.
4. Best Possible 11
Virat Kohli (Captain), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Kylie Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
5. Prediction
The RCB will have to play some consistent cricket and they could just sneak into the last four.
With inputs from Mykhel.
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