Royal Challengers Bangalore have boosted a solid squad this season. (Express Archive)
Royal Challengers Bangalore have struggled in the previous seasons with the lack of depth in their seam bowling department. The side that has never won the IPL title in 10 seasons so far has tried to fix the missing links this time by spending Rs 7.4 crores on England bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes and Rs 1 crore for New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee. Apart from the two, Bangalore also bought Indian quick Umesh Yadav, who has taken 91 wickets in 94 IPL matches in his career, for Rs 4.2 crores.
With the side also buying uncapped Delhi seamers Kulwant Khejroliya and Navdeep Saini, who both impressed in the domestic season, the side looks pretty solid when it comes to the seam bowling. Khejroliya took 14 wickets in 10 matches in Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament for the trophy-winning Delhi at an average of 17.35, while Saini had the best average of all Delhi bowlers.
Strength: Like every season, the strength of Royal Challengers Bangalore lies in their batting line-up. Apart from Virat Kohli, who is currently the No.3 batsman in T20I according to ICC rankings and the extremely dangerous AB de Villiers, RCB also bought Brendon McCullum for Rs 3.6 crore along to boost its side already dangerous batting line-up. In the absence of KL Rahul, who used to open the innings with skipper Kohli in the previous few editions, McCullum can provide the perfect option to open the innings. He can score at a fast pace and relieve pressure on Kohli to take the innings forward. With AB de Villiers, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Colin de Grandhomme in the middle, it looks like a batting unit to tackle.
Smart buy: The smartest buy for Royal Challengers Bangalore could prove to be New Zealand allrounder Colin de Grandhomme who was bought for a comparatively lower sum of Rs 2.2 crore. His recent innings of 74* in 40 balls against Pakistan in an ODI in the 4th ODI in January has proved that on his day, he can be a match-winner for his side. He can come late down the order and smack sixes at will to take his side to victory. He also scored a Test century in just 71 balls against West Indies in December, the fastest maiden hundred in the longest format. Grandhomme has picked up a bit of a pace with him in bowling, and he can also trouble the opposition’s batsman with varying pace.
Weakness: In spite of RCB packing in a lot of seamers, the question of availability for England all-rounder Chris Woakes and the lingering fitness issue with Nathan Coulter-Nile can pose a question mark on the side’s bowling unit. England will be competing in a series in New Zealand at the start of April, and will then have a series against Pakistan at the end of May forcing Woakes to prioritise his schedule. Coulter-Nile, on the other hand, has been sidelined from the international squad with an “aggravation” of previous stress fracture. The absence of the two quicks might put a lot of pressure on Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav.
Squad: 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 Cr), Mandeep Singh (1.4 Cr), Washington Sundar (3.2 Cr), Pawan Negi (1 Cr RTM), Mohammad Siraj (2.6 Cr), Nathan Coulter-Nile (2.2 Cr), Anirudha Joshi (20L)
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