Lack of an experienced middle order batsman could hurt RCB

You need to be lucky to posses a genuine world class player in your side, who can win you matches from seemingly insurmountable positions. Royal Challengers Bangalore though, have not one but two superstars in Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will once again head into an IPL season with their fortunes resting on their magical duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

RCB have traditionally had a top heavy side, with their flimsy bowling lineup invariably being their Achilles heel over the years.

RCB beefed up their bowling department, as they brought in Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar to form a quality Indian bowling attack.

Royal Challengers Bangalore invested heavily in foreign all-rounders, as bought accomplished stars in Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme and Moeen Ali. With just an Indian wicket-keeper missing in their squad, RCB went back for Parthiv Patel as they bought the experienced star for Rs 1.7 crores.

While this RCB squad has a better balance as compared to previous years, the Bangalore franchise will look to Kohli and De Villiers to take this team to another level.

This is the current RCB squad after the IPL auction,

Virat Kohli (retained 17 c), AB de Villiers (retained 11 c), Sarfraz Khan (retained 3 c), Brendon McCullum (3.6 c), Chris Woakes (7.4 c), Colin de Grandhomme (2.2 c), Moeen Ali (1.7 c), Quinton de Kock (2.8 c), Umesh Yadav (4.2 c), Yuzvendra Chahal (6 c), Manan Vohra (1.1 c), Kulwant Kejroliya (85 Lakh), Aniket Choudhary (30 Lakh), Navdeep Saini (3 c), Murugan Ashwin (2.2 c), Mandeep Singh (1.4 c), Washington Sundar (3.2 c), Pawan Negi (1 c RTM), Mohammad Siraj (2.6 c), Nathan Coulter-Nile (2.2 c), Anirudha Joshi (20L), Parthiv Patel (1.7 7 c), Tim Southee (1 c), Pavan Deshpande (20L).

WEAKNESS

The most obvious weakness in this side is the lack of an experienced Indian middle order batsman. While RCB do have Sarfaraz Khan, Manan Vohra and Mandeep Singh in their ranks, none of them have performed consistently in IPL history to evoke much confidence among the fans.

With Sarfaraz Khan being retained by the franchise, RCB will be hoping that the youngster does eventually turn into a reliable star in the middle. But there is a whole lot of hope involved in this, which is why the Kohli-ABD axis will define RCB’s fortunes in this season’s IPL.