Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
City: Bangalore, Karnataka
Ground: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
IPL Debut: 2008
Number of IPL Titles: 0
Who are the Royal Challengers Bangalore?
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is one of the most popular franchise cricket teams that plays in the Indian Premier League. RCB has been always been known for having high-profile players but, somehow, hasn’t quite managed to lift the IPL title in the tournament’s history.
Despite that, the franchise boast of having the most loyal fans, who have stuck with them through thick and thin. India’s modern-day superstar Virat Kohli has been the face of the bangalore-based franchise for many years.
Coming close
He is part of the team since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. In its IPL journey, the Red Army have managed to reach the finals on three occasions but couldn’t quite cross the final hurdle.
RCB was initially bought by Vijay Mallya, who was the then chairman of Kingfisher Airlines and United Spirits for a $ 111.6 million.
However, he was declared as a defaulter and, thus, was removed from the position as the owner of the franchise. Hence, RCB is now solely owned by United Spirits.
For Indian bettors, RCB have been low down the list for picking in the outright markets. There are a lot more IPL bets placed on individual players, such as Virat Kohli.
The IPL History of Royal Challengers Bangalore
Ahead of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, RCB roped in Rahul Dravid as its icon player and also made him the captain of the franchise.
However, after a disappointing performance in the first season, Anil Kumble took over in the middle of the second season in 2009. RCB’s performance improved dramatically and the Red Army went to reach the final.
In the summit clash, however, the Red Army lost to Deccan Chargers by 6 wickets. The following season, RCB, once again, reached the semi-finals and played their second final in the 2011 edition of the tournament.
Previous heroes
The 2011 saw RCB produce a new hero in Chris Gayle. Both Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle topped the run-charts that season and took the team in the final. However, yet again, they failed to cross the final hurdle.
Chennai Super Kings beat them in the final by 58 runs. Despite boasting of a powerful batting line-up, RCB, once again, couldn’t hold the trophy. The next three seasons were quite disappointing as they couldn’t reach the playoffs on a single occasion.
Taking up the baton
Virat Kohli gave Royal Challengers Bangalore their best chance of winning the title in 2016. India’s run-machine activated his beast mode as he scored a record 973 runs that season, which included 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries.
He took the team to the final which was played against SRH on 29th May 2016. David Warner lit up the clash with an incredible knock and powered SRH to a mammoth score of 208. In reply, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli shared a solid 114-run partnership for the opening wicket. But, once the universe boss departed, wickets fell quickly and the Red Army, once again, fell short of the target.
This was the last time when RCB managed to reach the final in their IPL journey. Under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis, Bangalore-based franchise finished at sixth spot on the table in the previous season.
The fans, however, continued to support them and are expected to, once again, cheer for them in the upcoming season.
Who Holds the Royal Challengers Bangalore Records?
Virat Kohli has scored the most runs for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. In 237 matches, he has managed to score 7263 runs for the franchise.
Chris Gayle owns the record of hitting the highest individual score for RCB in Indian Premier League. The southpaw smashed 175 runs against Pune Warriors in 2013.
Chris Gayle also has the best average by a batsman for RCB in IPL. In 90 innings, he scored 3420 runs at an average of 43.29.
Glenn Maxwell has scored runs with the best strike rate of 161.43 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL.
Multiple records for Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has scored the most number of half-centuries for RCB in the IPL. He has 52 fifties to his name for the Red Army.
Virat Kohli also owns the record of having the most number centuries (7) for RCB.
As far as the most sixes scored for RCB in the IPL is concerned, Chris Gayle is above them all with 239 sixes to his name.
Virat Kohli has also scored the most runs for RCB in a single IPL edition. He hammered 973 runs for the Red Army during the 2016 edition of the cash-rich league.
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