Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – IPL 2020
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Introduction
There has never been more pressure on the Royal Challengers from Bangalore to win an IPL season. Fortunately for them, there won’t be any fans in the stadium to remind them of this expectation. There’s no doubt that RCB are going to field a top quality squad, but it is their bench strength which will come into the focus as the tournament progresses. Virat Kohli and his mean may be calm as never before entering a season but RCB fans are surely not as calm.
Suggestive Playing XI by Mihir Vohra
Mihir’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- There are times when lack of options can work in a team’s favour and I have a feeling this is going to be the case for RCB this year. RCB certainly seem to have a combination and a set of players to fulfil that combination in mind, as it is evident from the fact that most players in the roster pick themselves.
- A good crop of all-rounders, one who wouldn’t impact their top-order batting while playing at their preferred slots in the middle order await RCB.
- RCB’s death bowling has certainly improved. It isn’t close to that of MI’s or SRH’s but it definitely the 3rd best this season.
weaknesses
- A lack of another specialist batsman in the top 5 could hurt RCB, especially if their famed top 3 fail.
- Apart from Finch and Zampa, and to an extent Moeen Ali, most of their key players haven’t had sufficient match practice. While for Indian players, it is the same case for each of the 8 teams, it is A B de Villiers and Chris Morris that I am talking about, players who are important components of this lineup.
opportunities
- I’ll go out on a limb here and say that this is the best (including the 2016 season) chance for RCB to win an IPL trophy.
- If you were following RCB social media videos, you’d have seen them have Yorker bowling contests as part of training. RR on the other hand (another team whose social media I happened to follow) were having six-hitting contests – goes to show what the teams are looking to address before the season begins. Having said that, RCB have a great bowling lineup this year, one which has an opportunity to conquer their bowling demons.
threats
- If there are injuries to key players or there are non-performers, RCB, I am afraid don’t have a solid bench strength to effectively replace those players, definitely not in all departments. This is a huge threat.
- Either you’re compelled to play Moeen Ali (which is not a bad bet at all) or loose out on Washington Sundar in order to accommodate Adam Zampa. It might seem like a minuscule thing to say but this could be huge threat to the balance of the team.
player from another team
Robin Uthappa —> Someone like Robin Uthappa would slot in well enough in this lineup, in the middle-order, while allowing Zampa or Steyn to bolster the bowling without loosing out on batting depth.
key player
Navdeep Saini —> Navdeep Saini is an important man for RCB this season. Virat Kohli has persisted with Saini even when the latter was going for runs and wasn’t the bowler he is now. It is time for RCB and Kohli to have an opportunity to reap the dividends and time for Saini to justify the faith his captain has shown in him. He will be sharing the death bowling responsibilities with Morris, perhaps even more than Morris himself. Saini has improved leaps & bound in his death bowling skills and RCB need those skills if they need to progress to the playoffs and win.
prediction
I feel RCB should easily find themselves in the playoffs. To go a couple of steps further, RCB need their bowling to fire. Remember, sides who have won the IPL have ALWAYS had a great and performing bowling lineup.
Roster
Schedule
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