Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), officially known as Royal Challengers Bengaluru, are a professional cricket franchise based in Bangalore, Karnataka, competing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 by United Spirits, the team is named after the company's liquor brand, Royal Challenge. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore serves as their home ground.

Royal Challengers have finished as runners-up on three occasions in 2009, 2011, and 2016, and have qualified for the playoffs in nine out of seventeen seasons. The franchise has also competed in the Champions League Twenty20, finishing as runners-up in the 2011 season. RCB is valued at $69.8 million, making them one of the most valuable IPL franchises. As of 2024, the team is captained by Faf du Plessis and coached by Andy Flower.

Royal Challengers Bangalore also hold two important IPL records, for the lowest total score made in an innings (49, against Kolkata Knight Riders) and for the highest total score conceded in an innings (287, against Sunrisers Hyderabad).

2008–2010: Initial seasons
In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the establishment of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 competition set to begin in 2008. On 24 January 2008, an auction was held in Mumbai for the league's teams, which represented eight different cities in India, including Bangalore. The Bangalore franchise was acquired by Vijay Mallya for US$111.6million, making it the second-highest bid, slightly less than Reliance Industries' US$111.9million bid for the Mumbai Indians.

Ahead of the 2008 player auction, the IPL designated Rahul Dravid as the icon player for the Bangalore franchise. This designation ensured that Dravid would be paid 15% more than the highest bid player at the auction. The franchise acquired several prominent Indian and international players, including Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, and Cameron White. In the second round of the auction, they also signed Ross Taylor, Misbah-ul-Haq, and India under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli. The franchise named Dravid as the captain of the team and appointed Venkatesh Prasad as the head coach. The team struggled in the inaugural season, winning only four out of their 14 matches and finishing seventh in the eight-team table. Dravid was the sole player to score more than 300 runs in the tournament, and the team even had to bench their most expensive foreign player, Kallis, for several matches due to his poor form. Midway through the season, the string of failures led to the sacking of CEO Charu Sharma, who was replaced by Brijesh Patel. Mallya publicly criticized Dravid and Sharma for their selection of players at the auction, stating that his "biggest mistake was to abstain from the selection of the team." Eventually, the chief cricketing officer of the franchise, Martin Crowe, resigned and Prasad was replaced by Ray Jennings as the head coach.

At the 2009 player auction, the franchise signed Kevin Pietersen for a record US$1.55 million, making him the most expensive player alongside Andrew Flintoff (Chennai Super Kings). They also traded Zaheer Khan for Robin Uthappa with the Mumbai Indians and brought in local batsman Manish Pandey. Due to general elections in India, the tournament was held in South Africa. Pietersen was named captain, but after a string of initial losses, Anil Kumble took over the captaincy when Pietersen left for national duty. RCB's performance improved under Kumble, winning six of their last eight matches to finish third in the league table. They defeated Chennai Super Kings in the semi-final but fell short by six runs in the final against Deccan Chargers.

In 2010, the Royal Challengers, under Kumble's captaincy, secured seven wins from 14 matches, accumulating 14 points. Tied with three other teams for a playoff spot, their superior net run rate qualified them for the semi-finals. In the semi-final, they were defeated by the table-toppers, the Mumbai Indians, by 35 runs. However, the Royal Challengers secured a convincing nine-wicket win over the defending champions, the Deccan Chargers, in the third-place playoff, thus qualifying for the 2010 Champions League Twenty20. Kumble retired at the conclusion of the Champions League, having led the team to the semi-finals of both the IPL and the CLT20 that year.

2011–2012: IPL and CLT20 finals
On 8 January 2011, the IPL Governing Council held the auction for the fourth season of the league. Franchises had the option of retaining a maximum of four players for a sum of US$4.5 million. However, RCB retained only Virat Kohli, leaving their other players to re-enter the auction pool. During the auction, Bangalore made significant acquisitions, including Tillakaratne Dilshan, Zaheer Khan, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori, Saurabh Tiwary, Dirk Nannes, and Cheteshwar Pujara. Daniel Vettori was named captain for the season. RCB began their campaign with a win over the newly formed Kochi Tuskers Kerala. However, they faced three consecutive defeats against Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, and Chennai Super Kings. Dirk Nannes was replaced by Chris Gayle because of an injury. Gayle's inclusion led RCB to a seven-match winning streak. In their final league match, RCB defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings, securing the top position in the points table. They lost the final, again facing the Super Kings, by 58 runs. Chris Gayle was named Man of the Tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 semi-finals after finishing runner-up in the IPL. They won their final group match against Southern Redbacks on the last ball and beat New South Wales Blues in the semis. They lost the final to Mumbai Indians.

Before the 2012 auction, RCB retained Chris Gayle and secured Andrew McDonald from Delhi Daredevils. In the auction, RCB acquired Vinay Kumar and Muttiah Muralitharan. RCB began the 2012 IPL season without Chris Gayle, who was recovering from an injury. AB de Villiers and Muttiah Muralitharan contributed to a winning start against Delhi Daredevils. RCB won eight out of their sixteen games but failed to qualify for the playoffs. Gayle was the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 733 runs, including a century.

2013-2015: Kohli captaincy and intermediate seasons
Before the 2013 auction, RCB released Mohammad Kaif, Charl Langeveldt, Dirk Nannes, Luke Pomersbach, and Rilee Rossouw. At the auction, they acquired Christopher Barnwell, Daniel Christian, Moises Henriques, Ravi Rampaul, Pankaj Singh, R. P. Singh, and Jaydev Unadkat. Virat Kohli replaced Daniel Vettori as captain and remained in that role until 2021. During the IPL season, RCB finished fifth in the group stage points table with 9 wins from 16 matches, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Chris Gayle was the second highest run scorer of the tournament, behind Michael Hussey of the Chennai Super Kings, while Vinay Kumar was the team's highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets.

Before the 2014 auction, RCB retained AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Virat Kohli from previous seasons. The players bought in the 2014 auction included Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Parthiv Patel, Ashok Dinda, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijay Zol, and Yuvraj Singh, who was the most expensive player at inr 140000000, among others. Daniel Vettori replaced Ray Jennings as the head coach of the team. The first phase of the IPL was held in the UAE and the second phase in India. RCB finished 7th in the points table and did not qualify for the playoffs. De Villiers was the highest run-scorer for the team with 395 runs, while Varun Aaron took the most wickets, claiming 16.

Before the 2015 auction, RCB secured Manvinder Bisla from Kolkata Knight Riders and Iqbal Abdulla from Rajasthan Royals, as well as Mandeep Singh from Kings XI Punjab during the transfer window. In the auction, they bought Daren Sammy, Sean Abbott, Subramaniam Badrinath, Sarfaraz Khan, and Dinesh Karthik, among others. Royal Challengers started their season with a win against KKR at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. During the group stage, they won a total of seven out of fourteen matches, finishing in third place on the points table. In the playoffs, they defeated Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator by 71 runs. However, in the second qualifier against the Chennai Super Kings, RCB lost by 3 wickets, knocking them out of the tournament. AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, and Chris Gayle were the 4th, 5th, and 6th highest run-scorers of the season, respectively, while Yuzvendra Chahal was the team's highest wicket-taker and the 3rd highest overall in the season.

2016–2019: Runners-up and bottom-table finishes
Amid financial scandals involving owner and chairman Vijay Mallya, Amrit Thomas became the chairman of the Royal Challengers. In the 2016 season, RCB introduced different jerseys for home and away matches. During the player auction, they acquired Shane Watson, Kane Richardson, Stuart Binny, Travis Head, and Samuel Badree, among others. Additionally, KL Rahul and Parvez Rasool joined RCB from Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB won their first match of the season against Sunrisers, with AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli scoring 82 and 75 runs, respectively. However, they struggled in the next six matches, securing only one win against Rising Pune Supergiant, which made it challenging to qualify for the playoffs. However, RCB qualified for the playoffs, losing only one match in their next seven games. They set a record by defeating the Gujarat Lions with a winning margin of 144 runs, the highest in IPL history. RCB finished the group stage in second place on the points table with 18 points. In the playoffs, they faced Gujarat Lions in Qualifier 1 at their home ground, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and won by 4 wickets, advancing to their third final in nine seasons. In the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bangalore, RCB lost by 8 runs, ending the season as runners-up for the third time in IPL history. Yuzvendra Chahal and Shane Watson were the second and third highest wicket-takers of the tournament, while Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs in the tournament, amassing 973 runs—the highest ever in IPL history.

In the 2017 player auctions, the Royal Challengers acquired Tymal Mills, Aniket Choudhary, Pawan Negi, Praveen Dubey, and Billy Stanlake. Mitchell Starc parted ways with the team to rehabilitate ahead of the Champions Trophy, prompting the management to replace him with Tymal Mills. The season for RCB was impacted by injuries, with skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers missing the initial matches. This led to Shane Watson stepping in as the interim captain. Batsmen KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan were also ruled out for the season due to prolonged injuries. RCB finished at the bottom of the table, losing ten out of their fourteen matches. In a match against the Kolkata Knight Riders, RCB was all out for just 49 runs, marking the lowest score ever in an IPL match. Virat Kohli was the leading run-scorer for the team with 308 runs in the tournament, while Pawan Negi took the most wickets, claiming 16.

Ahead of the 2018 IPL, RCB retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Sarfaraz Khan. During the auction, they acquired notable players such as Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Umesh Yadav, and Yuzvendra Chahal, among others. In January 2018, Gary Kirsten was appointed as the batting coach, and Ashish Nehra took on the role of bowling coach. In the group stage, RCB finished sixth in the points table, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Virat Kohli was the team's leading run-scorer, while Umesh Yadav took the most wickets.

In August 2018, Gary Kirsten was appointed as the head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, replacing Daniel Vettori. During the 2019 IPL auction, the team acquired Shivam Dube, Shimron Hetmyer, Heinrich Klaasen, and Devdutt Padikkal, along with other key players. During the season, Dale Steyn joined the team, replacing the injured Nathan Coulter-Nile. Steyn played only two games before being ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. In the group stage, RCB played 14 games, winning five, and finished at the bottom of the table. Virat Kohli was once again the highest run-scorer for the team, while Yuzvendra Chahal was the highest wicket-taker.

2020–present: Regain In form
Before the start of 2020 IPL, RCB had released many of their players, including Akshdeep Nath, Colin de Grandhomme, Dale Steyn, Heinrich Klassen, Himmat Singh, Kulwant Khejroliya, Marcus Stoinis, Milind Kumar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prayas Ray Barman, Shimron Hetmyer, and Tim Southee. During the IPL auction, they added Aaron Finch (₹4.4 crore), Chris Morris (₹10 crore), Joshua Philippe ( ₹20 lakh), Kane Richardson (₹4 crore), Pavan Deshpande (₹20 lakh), Dale Steyn (₹2 crore), Shahbaz Ahamad (₹20 lakh) and Isuru Udana (₹50 lakh). RCB released a new logo and a New Jersey ahead of the 2020 season.

RCB qualified for the playoffs of the 2020 IPL for the first time since 2016, but they failed to win the title after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator. Devdutt Padikkal was the team's leading run scorer with 473 runs, followed by Virat Kohli (466 runs) and AB de Villiers (454 runs). Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with 21 wickets, followed by Chris Morris and Mohammad Siraj with 11 wickets each.

Before the 2021 IPL season, RCB released Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Isuru Udana, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann, and Parthiv Patel (retired). During the IPL Auction they added Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, Srikar Bharat, Rajat Patidar, Dan Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, and Finn Allen to their squad. This was AB de Villiers's last season in the IPL, as he announced his retirement in November 2021.

RCB faced the same fate as they did in the previous season, failing to lift the trophy once again after losing to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator. This season saw the rise of Harshal Patel as the team's break-out player as he finished the season with 32 wickets, equalling the record for highest number of wickets taken in a season and winning the Purple Cap. Glenn Maxwell was the highest run scorer for the team with 513 runs (fifth highest in the season). Virat Kohli achieved the feat of becoming the first ever batter to score 6000 runs in the IPL during the season.

The 2022 season saw some major changes in the team as before the start of the season star batter AB de Villiers announced his retirement in November 2021 and RCB announced a new captain, Faf du Plessis, after former captain Virat Kohli announced his retirement from captaincy following the second leg of 2021 IPL season. They also appointed Sanjay Bangar as the new head coach.

Ahead of the IPL Mega Auction, RCB retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammad Siraj. During the auction they bought Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Finn Allen, Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, David Willey, Sherfane Rutherford, Suyash Prabhudessai, Aneeshwar Gautam, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep, Luvnith Sisodia, Karn Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Jason Behrendorff, Chama Milind.

The season saw the addition of two new teams making it a 10 team season. RCB finally managed to go past eliminator mark after consecutively losing in the previous two seasons, yet they failed to win the title after they lost to Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2. The new captain Faf du Plessis ended the season with 468 runs, the highest for the team. The 2022 season was not a fruitful one for Virat Kohli, as he scored only 341 runs at an average of 22.73. Wanindu Hasaranga was the team's highest wicket taker with 26 wickets.

Ahead of the 2023 season RCB bought Reece Topley, Will Jacks, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhadange in the auction.

Captains
Last updated: 23 May 2024

Livery
Vijay Mallya wanted to associate one of his top-selling liquor brands, either McDowell's No.1 or Royal Challenge with the team. The latter was chosen, hence the name.

Logo
The logo initially consisted of the RC emblem in yellow on a circular red base with the black text "Royal Challengers Bangalore" in standard format surrounding the circular logo. The RC crown emblem with the roaring lion placed on the top of the logo was derived from the original Royal Challenge logo. No significant changes took place in the design of the logo except for the replacement of colour yellow with gold from 2009. This logo also had a dotted white circle around the RC emblem. The team also uses an alternate logo for the Game for Green matches where the green plants surround the logo and the text Game for Green is placed below the logo. The logo was redesigned in 2016 with the inclusion of black as a secondary colour. The lion emblem in the crest was enlarged and the shield was omitted in the new design. In 2020, a new logo was unveiled featuring a bigger lion and the crown returning from the previous logo. The RC emblem was omitted for this crest.

Jersey
The jersey colours of the team in 2008 were red and golden yellow, the same as the unofficial Kannada flag, with player names printed in white and numbers printed in black in the rear. Yellow was replaced with gold in the future seasons. Starting from 2010, blue was introduced on the apparel as a tertiary colour. The jersey design saw tweaks every season, major being the one for 2014 where blue dominated over gold. From 2014, the player names and numbers were printed in gold. As of 2015, more yellowish shade of gold was used on the jerseys. Black replaced blue as the tertiary colour in 2016. Also from 2016, two versions of the jersey were used, one for home matches and the other for away ones. The kit design remained the same until 2019. The home and away concept was scrapped from 2020 and a darker shade of blue replaced black. A design similar to the previous "home" version of the jersey was adopted for 2020 and 2021. A completely redesigned jersey with the deep blue as a dominant shade with gold accents was used in 2022 while red was seen predominantly on the trousers.

RCB also have a tradition of replacing red with green on the kits for the "Game for Green" matches which occur once a season. In 2020, as a tribute to the COVID-19 frontline workers, a match was played by RCB with sky-blue colour replacing red on the kits.

Reebok manufactured kits for the team from 2008 to 2014 and Adidas supplied the kits in 2015. Zeven manufactured the kits for the team from 2016 to 2019. Wrogn manufactured the kits in 2020 while Puma became the official kit manufacturer since 2020.

Ambassadors
Katrina Kaif was the brand ambassador for the team in 2008. Deepika Padukone, Ramya, Puneeth Rajkumar, Shiva Rajkumar, Upendra and Ganesh have been the ambassadors for the team in the later seasons.

Rivalry with Kolkata Knight Riders
The rivalry between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore is one of the oldest in the IPL. The inaugural match of IPL was played between both the teams in which KKR won by 140 runs due to a 158* off just 73 balls by Brendon McCullum.

In the IPL 2009, RCB won in both encounters against Knight Riders. During the second time they faced each other, Ross Taylor played a notable innings, scoring 81* runs off 33 balls, contributing significantly to RCB's victory by six wickets.

In the 2012 edition of IPL, KKR was at the lower half of the IPL table and needed to win the crucial match against RCB. KKR won the toss and chose to bat first. Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with 93 (51). In reply, RCB lost wickets at regular intervals, as only Chris Gayle managed to put up a fight with a score of 86 (58). The next time they met, Gambhir again was the thorn in RCB's side as he top scored for KKR at a tough pitch, taking KKR to a competitive total of 165. RCB in reply made 129, as Lakshmipathy Balaji ripped through their line-up with a 4/18 in 4 overs.

In the 2015 IPL edition, RCB and KKR took part in a match reduced due to rain. It was reduced to a 10-over match. RCB won the toss and elected to field. For KKR, Andre Russell was the top scorer as he scored 45 off just 17 balls. He took them to a score of 111/4 in just 10 overs. Mitchell Starc took one wicket for 15 runs in 2 overs. In reply, RCB were at 0–48 at 3.4 overs before Brad Hogg got Chris Gayle out. After that, RCB stuttered and started to collapse as they were reduced to 3–81 in 7.2 overs. When Virat Kohli got out to Andre Russell, the match looked to be over for RCB. However, Mandeep Singh scored 45 off just 18 balls, hitting 3 sixes and 4 fours.

In the 2017 IPL edition, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore again faced each other twice. In the first match between them, RCB got KKR out for a score of 131 after KKR had made a strong start of 0–48 in 3.3 overs. However, KKR dismissed RCB for 49, the lowest team score in the history of IPL. Nathan Coulter Nile, Colin de Grandhomme and Chris Woakes got three wickets each. In the next match, Sunil Narine scored what was then the fastest fifty in IPL (50 off 15 balls – which is now the second-fastest). KKR made the highest score made in powerplay in any IPL match, and easily chased down the target offered by RCB.

The 2019 IPL saw Virat Kohli scoring 84 off 49 and AB de Villiers scoring 63 off 32, taking RCB to a total of 205/3. KKR had a strong start, scoring 28/0 in 1.3 overs before losing wickets at regular intervals and having their run rate reduced. They were 139/4 in 15.5 overs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell brought back the chase under control. Karthik got out after scoring 19 off 15, leaving KKR at 153/5 in 17 overs. Andre Russell, however, took KKR over the line as he scored 48 off 13, hitting Mohammed Siraj for 23 runs in one over.

In the next match, RCB struck back as Virat Kohli made his 5th IPL century, scoring 100 runs in 58 balls only. Moeen Ali scored 66 runs in only 28 balls as RCB scored 213 runs. For KKR, Nitish Rana scored 85 off 46 and Andre Russell scored 65 off 25, taking the game down to the wire. However, RCB won the match by 10 runs, with Virat Kohli being Man of the Match.

Rivalry with Chennai Super Kings
The rivalry between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore stems from the Kaveri River water dispute between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The rivalry is also called "Kaveri derby", "Southern derby" and "South Indian derby". The Super Kings beat the Royal Challengers in the final of the 2011 IPL, the only meeting between the two teams at an IPL final.

Rivalry with Hyderabad franchises
Another notable rivalry involving RCB is with the Hyderabad franchises, first with the Deccan Chargers and now with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Deccan Chargers won six out of the 11 clashes between the two and the Sunrisers currently lead with 12 games to 11. There is also a notable trend where the Hyderabad franchise has jeopardised RCB's campaigns in some way or the other. In the 2009 and 2016 seasons, they were beaten in the finals by Chargers and Sunrisers respectively. In the 2020 season, Sunrisers knocked RCB out of the tournament in the eliminator. In the 2021 season, Sunrisers, who did not qualify for the playoffs, were able to beat RCB, causing them to finish in 3rd place and forcing them to play the eliminator, which they lost to KKR. Their 2022 IPL campaign was also affected by SRH, whom they lost to by 9 wickets after scoring 68 in their first encounter, putting them under pressure because of their negative run rate throughout their otherwise strong campaign. In the latest chapter of the rivalry between the two in IPL 2024, like the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad were the first to break the 263-run record set by RCB, which seemed insurmountable at the time as a result of Chris Gayle's 175. In a more humiliating turn, SRH again broke RCB's record against RCB themselves on their home ground, scoring 287 runs, thanks to a 39-ball century by Travis Head and a 30-ball 67 by Heinrich Klassen. Although there was a valiant effort by RCB, spearheaded by Dinesh Karthik's 83 off 35 and captain Faf du Plessis's 62 off 28, RCB still lost by 25 runs. SRH would break RCB's 263 record for the third time and score 266 against the Delhi Capitals after setting an all-time T20 record by scoring 125 runs inside the power-play.

Support and fan following
The Royal Challengers have a huge and passionate fan base all over India and especially in the city of Bangalore. The fans, known to be loyal and vocal in their support, often turn up in large numbers for RCB's home matches, turning the stadium into what is called a "sea of red". They are well known for their chants of "R-C-B, R-C-B" and chants of "A-B-D, A-B-D" for their maestro batsman AB de Villiers, and the co-ordinated Mexican wave at the Chinnaswamy. The stadium organisers also provide the home team fans with cheer kits, RCB flags and noisemakers among other items. Royal Challengers Bangalore have formed a fan-following group named as Bold Army.

During the 2014 IPL, the Royal Challengers became the first team to provide free Wi-Fi connectivity to fans at their home ground. 50 access points were set up using fibre-optic cables to provide the connectivity to fans on match days at the Chinnaswamy.

By Opposition
Last Updated on 22 May 2024