IPL 2017: Royal Challengers Bangalore complete squad, key players and list of matches

IPL 2017: Led by Indian Captain Virat Kohli, the RCB displays a mixture of youth and experience but remains heavily dependent on its famous batting line up.

The 10th season of the Indian Premier League will begin in less than week’s time. Arguably the most popular T20 tournament in the world, the IPL started in 2007 after India’s unprecedented success in the 2007 T20 World Cup, when they lifted the trophy in South Africa. The IPL started with a bang when Brendon McCullum, then playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders scored a massive 158 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Vijay Mallya-owned team had performed poorly in the first season and came 2nd last on the number’s table. The team was criticised for a poor selection of players, which consisted of test specialists like Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jafar and Jaques Kallis. The team has come a long way since then and has remained a top contender for the title, despite never having won the tournament in its decade-long history. Led by Indian Captain Virat Kohli, the RCB displays a mixture of youth and experience but remains heavily dependent on its famous batting line up.

Royal Challengers Bangalore full squad:

Existing players: Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Sarfaraz Khan, S Aravind, Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Samuel Badree, Iqbal Abdulla, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Avesh Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi

Players Bought: Pawan Negi (1 Cr), Tymal Mills (12 Cr), Aniket Choudhary (INR 2 Cr), Praveen Dubey (10 Lakh), Billy Stanlake (30 Lakh)

Also watch: Chris Gayle 175*

Key players:

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli might have hit a rough patch in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series but T20 is a different ball game altogether and Kohli;s track record in the format speaks for itself. In the 154 IPl matches, Kohli has played since 2008, he has amassed 4534 runs at an impressive average of 38.10 and a strike rate of 132. 07. In the last season of the IPL, Virat had hit a golden patch scoring 973 runs in 16 innings with a strike rate of 152.03 and an incredible average of 81.08.
Chris Gayle

The Big Jamaican is easily the most experienced batsman in the team and the most destructive one, on his day. Gayle has been playing as a mercenary in T20 tournaments all over the world and is easily a nightmare for any bowler at the top of the order. He has 3220 runs in the 82 matches that he has played in the IPL, with an average of 46 and a strike rate of 156.92 and a top score of 175 against Pune. He also happens to have the fastest T20 century to his name.

Also read: Jasprit Bumrah

AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is Superman. De Villiers is at a stage of human evolution where he has left the homo sapiens way behind. De Villiers can captain, can bat anywhere, keep wickets, field anywhere, and even bowl at a decent speed. While it is to be seen, if Kohli and management use him as a finisher or up the order, De Villiers will find ways to score on anyone, anywhere on the field.

Also read: Manan Vohra

Tymal Mills

The Englishman is the newest buy in the team and this is first IPL season. At 24 years of age, Mills has a bright future ahead of him and playing for RCB in the IP could only propel him to new heights of stardom. Mills is the only pacer in the team who comes with some reputation. Considering the batting line-up, it is very unlikely that he would be short of runs to defend but his skills with the back of the hand slow ball mixed well with his ability to fire yorkers at will could be the last piece of the puzzle RCB need to win the IPL.

List of Matches:

Match 1: SRH vs RCB, April 5, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 2: RCB vs Delhi Daredevils, April 8, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 3: Kings XI Punjab vs RCB, April 10, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 4: RCB vs Mumbai Indians, April 14, 2017, 16:00 IST

Match 5: RCB vs Rising Pune Supergiant, April 16, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 6: Gujarat Lions vs RCB, April 18, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 7: KKR vs RCB, April 23, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 8: RCB vs SRH, April 25, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 9: RCB vs Gujarat Lions, April 27, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 10: Rising Pune Supergiant vs RCB, April 29, 2017, 16:00 IST

Match 11: Mumbai Indians vs RCB, May 1, 2017, 16:00 IST

Match 12: RCB vs Kings XI Punjab, May 5, 2017, 20:00 IST

Match 13: RCB vs KKR, May 7, 2017, 16:00 IST

Match 14: Delhi Daredevils vs RCB, May 15, 2017, 20:00 IST

1st Qualifier: May 16, 2017, 20:00 IST

Eliminator: May 17 2017, 20:00 IST