RCB All Time Best Playing 11:
Chris Gayle, Parthiv Patel (wicket keeper), Virat Kohli (captain), AB De Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Mandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Yuzvendra Chahal.
CHRISTOPHER HENRY GAYLE is a must pick in this list. He came to RCB as a replacement of Dirk Nannes in the year 2011 and the rest is history. He was in the Beast mode from the word go. He scored more than 2000 runs in his first 3 seasons with at least a century in each season. He also won the Orange Cap in the year 2011 and 2012. He is the ”UNIVERSE BOSS”. He can destroy any opposition on his day with such ease. He scored 3163 runs for RCB at an average of 43.32 and a phenomenal strike rate of 152 during his 7-year journey with the franchise. He scored more than 700 runs in the year 2012 and 2013. His best innings came in the year 2013 when he demolished the bowling attack of Pune Warriors India and scored an unbeaten 175 off just 66 balls at an impressive strike rate of 265 which included 14 fours and 17 sixes. My word, that was some hell of an innings. His score 175 is the highest score by an individual in T20 cricket.
PARTHIV PATEL will accompany the big man at the top. He played 3 seasons for RCB in the year 2015, 2018 & 2019 respectively. He scored 741 runs for Bangalore during his tenure. He is the man with the gloves in the All-Time XI. He had a great last season for RCB scoring more than 350 runs. He is the guy who can make use of power-play overs and give the team a cracking start.
VIRAT KOHLI is a sure-shot pick in any RCB All-Time XI. He is a man with sheer passion and determination towards his game. He holds the record of the highest individual run-scorer in the history of the IPL with more than 5400 runs. He is currently ”THE BEST” in the business. You just cannot even think of an RCB All-Time XI without this man. He won the Orange Cap in the year 2016. He was sensational with the bat in that season. He was hitting centuries for fun. 4 centuries in a single season ( most by any individual in the IPL) and scored 973 runs in a single edition ( most runs by any individual in one season of IPL). I mean, you must be kidding me. Nearly 1000 runs in one season? Just Wow. He scored a century against KXIP with 12 stitches in his hand and that too in a shortened game of 15 overs. You just cannot do that Virat. He was a player from another planet during the year 2016. He is a must pick in any RCB XI.
AB DE VILLIERS is surely at No.4 for RCB. It is extremely difficult to write a script for RCB without Gayle, Virat, and AB. Ever since he joined RCB, the fans of Bengaluru adopted him. He receives an immense amount of love whenever he comes to the Chinnaswamy. He loves his game, loves to entertain the crowd, loves to hit innovative strokes, and also loves to demolish the opposition’s bowling. He aggregated 3724 runs for RCB at an average of around 42 and an extraordinary strike rate of 159. He is one of the most destructive middle-order batsmen in world cricket. He has the ability to score runs all over the park which made him Mr. 360. Getting down on one knee with exposing all the 3 stumps and a flick to fine leg for six is one of his favorite shots. He can win games single-handedly any day of the week. He is one of the best acrobatic fielders of the team. He jumped like a superman and took a blinder to dismiss Alex Hales in the year 2018. He jumped, caught one-handed, and also managed to keep himself inches away from the boundary rope (All in one motion). He is a Superstar.
JACQUES KALLIS is in the All-Time XI for RCB as an overseas all-rounder. He was an integral part of the team in the first 3 seasons (2008 – 2010). He amassed 1271 runs and took 30 wickets for Royal Challengers during his tenure. He single-handedly took RCB to victory quite a few times. He is a brilliant batsman who has more than 10,000 ODI runs to his name and can also give 4 overs to the team.
MANDEEP SINGH makes the cut in the list. He has scored more than 500 runs for RCB batting lower down the order. He has a brilliant strike rate batting at the back end of an innings. He can make useful runs at the death with his skillful shots. He is a grown finisher who will quietly score 20 or 30 of just 10 to 15 balls.
MITCHELL STARC is a handy left-hander who can smack the ball out of the park coming in at No.7. He is a frontline bowler who will spearhead the pace attack of RCB in the All-Time XI. He has taken 34 wickets at an economy rate of 7.14 during the two seasons he played for RCB. He has pace, swing, bounce and bowls unplayable yorkers at the death too. He is an excellent bowler with great skills. The left-arm bowler is one of the dangerous bowlers in world cricket.
VINAY KUMAR is the second-highest wicket-taker for RCB. He is a skillful bowler who possesses different varieties in his bowling. He has scalped 80 wickets in RCB colors at an economy rate of 8.31 during the six seasons he played (2008 – 2013). He ended up as the leading wicket-taker for the team in the year 2012 with 19 wickets to his name.
ZAHEER KHAN is another left-arm bowler in the All-Time XI. He is one of the greatest bowlers of Indian Cricket. He played four seasons for this franchise and took 49 wickets at an economy of 7.85. S Aravind wasn’t far from making the XI, but Zaheer’s International experience cemented his place in the All-Time XI.
ANIL KUMBLE is one of the spinners in the All-Time XI of RCB. He played for the first 3 seasons for the franchise before retiring from IPL. He also captained the side in the years 2009 & 2010. He has 45 scalps to his name and an impressive economy of 6.57. He is one of the greatest spinners Indian Cricket has ever produced. His best figures in the IPL is 5/5 which came against RR in the year 2009.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL is the leading wicket-taker for RCB with 100 scalps. He is currently the best leg spinner of India. He is a wicket-taking option for Kohli. He has the ability to bowl in the power play and he can even take up his hand to bowl the 17th over too. He is a great asset to the team who delivers consistently. He is an obvious choice in the All-Time RCB XI.
Some Notable Players who missed out in all-time 11:
- Dale Steyn
- Rahul Dravid
- Ross Taylor
- S Aravind