Team Preview - Bangalore Royal Challengers

Performance in IPL 2008

The Royal Challengers, Bangalore had a miserable outing during the first season of the Indian Premier League, finishing a dismal seventh. 

Captained by Rahul Dravid, the team was touted as a Test side which was not capable of adapting to the swashbuckling cricket employed in the Twenty20 format.

After a torrid opening game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the team from Bangalore was not able to settle down as a unit.

The Royal Challengers played 14 matches in their IPL endeavour and could only manage 4 wins.

The liquor baron's team lost some close games after being in a winning position:

A loss to Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs 

Losing to Delhi Dare Devils by 10 runs 

Defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 runs 

The four wins managed by the Royal Challengers came against:

Mumbai Indians at Mumbai

Home and away wins against the Deccan Chargers

Chennai Super Kings at Chennai 

Trade-ins and player acquisitions

At the start of 2009, Vijay Mallya acquired Robin Uthappa from the Mumbai Indians and had to let go of Zaheer Khan to them. This deal did not cost Mallya as it was a mutual exchange.

Bangalore also acquired Gaurav Dhiman from the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh from the Rajasthan Royals.

The second IPL auction witnessed an aggressive bid by all teams to get hold of the South African born English cricketer Kevin Pietersen. Eventually, Mallya bagged him for a record $ 1.55 Million. Kevin Pietersen also replaced Rahul Dravid as the new RCB captain.

The left handed New Zealand sensation Jesse Ryder was also included in the Bangalore team for a price of $ 160,000.

Players to watch out for

Kevin Pietersen: With a whopping $ 1.55 Million tag and the responsibilty of leading the team, Bangalore fans would look to Pietersen to revive the fortunes of the team.

Jesse Ryder: With a dream season against the Indians in all forms of the game, the Royal Challengers would expect the Ryder magic to continue in South Africa.

Rahul Dravid: The 'Wall' of Indian cricket had a successful test series at New Zealand. Being the most successful RCB batsman during the first season and with the burden of captaincy no longer there, the seasoned campaigner would look forward to an engaging stint.

Dale Steyn: This exciting South African pacer had won praises from cricketers all round the world. RCB would bank on this fast bowler to rattle the opposition in conditions well suited to him where he will be even more lethal.

Trivia

Kevin Pietersen, along with Andrew Flintoff (Chennai), was the most expensive player of IPL 2009 at USD 1.55 million.

Bangalore Royal Challengers roped in Washington Redskins - a world famous cheer-leading squad from the US for the IPL 2008.

Abdur Razzak of Bangalore Royal Challengers was the only Bangladeshi to feature in IPL 2008. He only played one game for his team.

Anil Kumble took 3 for 14 in the match against the Chennai Super Kings - it was his best performance in the twenty-over format of the game.

Five of the Bangalore batsmen were dismissed for a duck in the match against Punjab - a record for the most ducks in an innings in the IPL.

B Akhil of the RCB scored 27 runs at a strike rate of 385.71 against the Deccan Chargers, the highest strike rate for an innings

Misbah-ul-Haq hit the 1000th four of the IPL

Misbah-ul-Haq, who turned 34 on 28th May, will want to forget his 34th birthday in a hurry - he was dismissed for a first ball duck against Mumbai.

Current Squad

Kevin Pietersen (ENG), Ross Taylor (NZ), Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Jesse Ryder (NZ), Mark Boucher (RSA), Shreevats Goswami, Dillon du Preez (RSA) , Jacques Kallis (RSA), Roelof van der Merwe (RSA), Cameron White (AUS), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Balachandra Akhil, Dale Steyn (RSA), Nathan Bracken (AUS), Pankaj Singh, Anil Kumble, Tinu Yohannan, Vinay Kumar

Coaches

Head Coach: Ray Jennings (RSA)

Assistant Head Coach: Vijay Bharadwaj