IPL 7 Team Profile : Royal Challengers Bangalore

Ever since Chris Gayle replaced Dirk Nannes in the Royal Challengers Bangalore he has been a revelation to watch. It was truly hard to recall how the batsman struggled when he played for KKR in one of the editions of the IPL. Maybe it was John Buchanan`s strategies which he didn’t like and thus never motivated him. But this star batsman has ingratiated himself with the UB group owner Vijay Mallya and performs better than what he does for his National Side. The reasons can only be pondered upon. This IPL again, expect this tall, broad, swarthy batsman from the Carribean to murder bowlers with the same ruthlessness. But will Kohli, the RCB skipper, ask him to bat like he used to i.e to attack from the start or will he allow him to play what Gayle has recently been noticed for , the waiting game.
RCB batting line-up is one of the most feared batting line-ups this IPL. Not because of very perennial Gayle storm but because of the presence of currently the best batsman in the World: Virat Kohli ; the batsman who can even flabbergast a bowler with any unimaginable shot in Cricket: AB Devilliers, and the batsman who has recently been tipped to have played his last match for INDIA : Yuvraj Singh. Well, expect these four men to create the foibles of IPL. For me, these four men constitute 4 of the top 5 batsmen for RCB giving them the opportunity to face the maximum overs in Twenty20 cricket. RCB also have the services of Parthiv Patel to open with Gayle. Royal Challengers also have bought the India U-19 captain Vijay Zol who will be a crucial middle order batsman whose services will be required when these fantastic four fail to deliver. It will be a tough assignment for the U-19 batsman to dig the team out when their best four fail. The Bangalore based team also bought the All-rounder Albie Morkel who was earlier a CSK member and can be one of the regulars for RCB this season. He brings in the capability of last over bursts and a bowler who would mix up his deliveries to put pressure on the batsman. Looks like Kohli remembered the loss that happened last year to his team when he bowled himself and was thrashed by Albie Morkel to steal the match for CSK and bought him to his team. With the fantastic four and Albie Morkel the batting line-up is extremely experienced and a deadly one.
Gayle, AB and Morkel will most probably make up the three foreign players who will be part of the XI, the fourth foreign player to be picked will be a tough call for Kohli to make between Rampaul, Mitchel Starc and Muttiah Muralitharan. To decide upon it he will have to first see the Indian bowling department. The team has capped Indian fast bowlers like Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda. Both have been in and out of the national squad and so, would be raring to go and perform to make a name amongst the selectors. Varun Aaron struggled in Bangladesh and would be under extreme pressure to perform. Whereas Ashok Dinda has been performing well in the domestic circuit and has been heard about practicing death bowling. Apart from these RCB has domestic bowlers like Abu Nechim, Sandeep Warrier, Sachin Rana, Harshal Patel. The team has two frontline spinners in the form of Shadab Jakati and Yuzvendra Chahal who can partner Muralitharan. The team might look to go in with two spinners given the conditions they will be playing in.  The team seems to be lacking the bite in the bowling department as the spinners lack experience although both have played well in the past for their previous franchises. Kohli may look to use Yuvraj and Gayle to fill up those gaps.
RCB failed to make it to the playoffs last year but this year they are being said to be the front runners for the trophy along with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. RCB along with 2 more teams will be playing one match less in their home grounds because of playing in UAE. This year seems to be their best chance of winning the trophy which they haven’t done despite performing strongly in every edition of the IPL. Maybe, they need some good wishes from the employees of Kingfisher Airlines who haven’t yet received their salaries from the RCB team owner. This might be the winning formula that Vijay Mallaya may need.

Probable XI : 1. Chris Gayle, 2. Parthiv Patel, 3. Virat Kohli, 4. AB Devilliers, 5. Yuvraj Singh, 6. Vijay Zol, 7. Albie Morkel, 8. Shadab Jakati, 9. Chahal, 10. Ravi Rampaul/Starc, 11. Ashok Dinda

Bench : Nic Maddinson, Muralitharan, Harshal Patel, Sachin Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh takawale