One of the most decorated teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has never won the coveted trophy in tournament’s history. The team has entered in three finals – 2009, 2011 and 2016 – and has not managed to win any one of them. It also holds the record of both, highest and lowest totals (263/5 and 49) in the IPL.

The Bangalore franchise has seen a lot of ups and downs in the tournament’s history. After excelling in all its initial battles in the tournament, the RCB side has often failed to deliver the knock-out punch in crucial situations. RCB captain Virat Kohli and his team would be looking forward to adding some silverware to their memorabilia this season.

It was quite a surprise when the RCB team management retained Sarfaraz Khan alongside AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, but did not retain the like of Chris Gayle. Not only that, RCB didn’t even try to bid for the explosive West Indies’ batsman despite the player being put up in the auction for three times. For RCB, it would be Brendon McCullum who would be playing the role of what Gayle has been playing for the RCB, over the years, i.e. a plunderer of bowling attacks.

RCB team looks a stronger and a settled unit this year. With Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Quinton de Kock, Mandeep Singh, and McCullum in the hut, batting will be RCB’s strong point this year. All-round capabilities of Colin De Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Moeen Ali and Tim Southee will be another plus for them this year. The bunch of Indian bowlers – Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar – will provide depth to their already dynamic side this year.

Royal Challengers’ Bangalore plays their home games at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The RCB franchise has developed close rivalries with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kings XI Punjab over the years.

FULL ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE SQUAD FOR IPL 2018 [24 players]

Virat Kohli (Captain), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Quinton De Kock, Mohammed Siraj, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin De Grandhomme, M. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Pavan Deshpande, and Anirudha Ashok Joshi.

Support Staff:

Head Coach: Daniel Vettori

Batting and Fielding Coach: Trent Woodhill

The franchise has been hot-and-cold throughout the years. With Virat Kohli at the helm of affairs and the entire team looking complete in all departments, this VIVO IPL could well be RCB’s golden year.

With the 11th edition of IPL slated to begin on April 7, it will be interesting to see if RCB manages to lay their hands on the coveted IPL trophy for the first time. Stay tuned with us for all the latest updates about Indian Premier League 2018 and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 19, 2018 10:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).