In the last cycle, what’s new with Royal Challengers Bengaluru?
To begin with, a new captain. When Rajat Patidar takes on a role that will undoubtedly be well watched, he will have a lot of responsibility. The largest task on his agenda will be leading a team with one of the more challenging home fields. It has always been challenging to create the perfect bowling assault on a wicket that tends to be high-scoring and has small boundaries. With a win percentage of 44.12, RCB has the worst home record since 2017, highlighting the difficulty of the task at hand.
In that regard, RCB has made a few selections that appear sound on paper. The expertise that Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Krunal Pandya bring to the table appears to be a novel risk. For RCB to advance in the IPL 2025, a lot will depend on how they handle the Chinnaswamy challenge.
There are some fresh faces in the batting as well, with a distinctly English flair. Although Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Jacob Bethell have strong T20 credentials, at least two of them would play significant roles under the RCB’s former operating model. Virat Kohli has a firepower foil in Salt up front, but it’s unclear if he can build a strong alliance as his predecessor Faf du Plessis did.
In addition to his varied spin, Livingstone brings the bulk in the center, which could help when matchups are needed. There is greater explosiveness in the lower middle-order with Tim David and Romario Shepherd, where Jitesh Sharma, Dinesh Karthik’s substitute, plays a significant part. These players’ current form is what would initially attract attention, even though they have like-for-like successors for some of their more successful roles.
Whole Squad
Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Swastik Chikara, Krunal Pandya, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Rathee, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh, Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), and the rest of the team
Currently, the best XII
Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma/Rasikh Dar Salam, Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), and
Concerns about availability and injury
Josh Hazlewood is making a comeback after a protracted absence, and the way the bowling lineup is constructed may be greatly influenced by his level of health. Although they have backup pace alternatives from overseas in Lungi Ngidi and Nuwan Thushara, Royal Challengers Bengaluru would like to have a bowler of Hazlewood’s caliber healthy and productive.
The player who needs to prove something is…
Padikkal Devdutt
Padikkal was once thought to be the next big thing coming out of Karnataka’s hitting machine, but his poor performance in batting positions has prevented him from taking advantage of the field limits during the powerplay. Padikkal may be able to regain some of his former glory now that he has a solid chance of securing a position in the top order.
A player with a promising season ahead of them?
Rasikh Dar Salam
It’s debatable if he will start right away, but last season, when given the opportunity, he made an impression with the Delhi Capitals. throughout the harsh environment of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, even a minor influence may make a big difference for him throughout his formative years.
Buildup and run-in of fixtures…
They play two away games before they play their first home game. However, they will play two home games to wrap up the league stages. At the back end, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will at least feel somewhat at ease knowing what needs to be done better than the competition in the race for points or NRR, which frequently occurs in the IPL.
This season’s home ground stat to keep an eye on
In the past two seasons, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been the most costly team and bowled the fewest number of spin overs (29.1%). Just slightly behind Hyderabad (9.26), the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been the second most costly location for spinners during this time (ER 9.24). With players like Suyash Sharma and Krunal, who have an economy rate of 7.25 at the venue, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be looking to improve these figures in order to level the playing field.
India
