Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore never had, and do not have, any dearth of talent, experience and variety in their squad. Yet, they have never been able to win the coveted Indian Premier League trophy. The star-studded team will kickstart its hunt for the trophy this new season, having worked towards developing a core group of players, while striving for stability in its batting line-up. The 14th season of IPL, starting April 9 at home in India, will see Royal Challengers Bangalore facing defending champions Mumbai Indians in the season opener.
The IPL auction saw RCB releasing as many as 10 players from their 2020 squad. They also added Sanjay Bangar as batting consultant.
RCB owner and chairman Anand Kripalu in his pre season interaction with the media alongside Mike Hesson, director of cricket operations, expressed satisfaction with the team's progress last season—RCB finished fourth. They had not made the play-offs since 2016. In fact, last season, they could have finished much higher but for a meltdown in the latter half of the tournament. Placed second at one point, having won seven of their 10 matches initially, they lost four on the trot, finishing outside the top two and playing the eliminator, which they eventually lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"We are excited as we kick off yet another season of IPL,” Kripalu said. “On the back of strong progress last year and with some exciting new talent from the recent auction, we remain confident as we approach the 2021 season. This year again we will miss playing on our home ground, at Chinnaswamy stadium and our fans. We have, however, ensured high levels of digital engagement through our marquee content properties. We have consistently been among the top three teams on social media."
However, the real aim is to finish at the top in the competition. Speaking about the areas that RCB had to plug in to become a stronger, more competitive side post the last season, the former NZ coach said, "We have aimed at building on our last year's success in making the play-offs. We made significant progress last year after two very tough seasons of results, but it also showed us that we had some phases of the game where we needed to improve. So, we felt required to tweak the squad in identified areas and made some valuable additions in the auctions to further strengthen the balance of the team. We identified the middle overs where we needed to tweak a litle bit with our strategy. If we look at our squad, we have 7-8 players who have been in our squad last two years."
It is with this belief that RCB went all out to buy Glenn Maxwell, staving off a strong bid from Chennai Super Kings. Maxwell was eventually bought for Rs 14.25 crore—the second most expensive overseas player after Chris Morris. However, Maxwell's IPL record has been underwhelming to say the least. But Hesson said the Aussie would be the missing finisher and X-factor player that RCB were looking for and missing last season.
"He is a fantastic player. We want some X-factor players. He fits in the middle-order for us. We wanted to have a player of his quality during middle overs and at the back-end as well, and he brings in huge amount of experience. On his day, he can turn the game on its head. We need to use him in a way we can maximise his skills.
"I am waiting to speak to him and be clear about his role. It's just been a few days. Amongst peers, he is going to bat, so it's better he understands his role implicitly. He has good skills, is highly experienced and will also be part of leadership group," he said.
Hesson reiterated that the team is not looking to depend on Virat Kohli or AB De Villiers alone. The focus is on players combing well to put up a competitive show on the ground. He also said that stability in the playing XI was the key to success.
