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

#IPL #IPL 10 #IPL 2017

#IndianPremierLeague

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 #BrendonMcCullum, then playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (#KKR) scored a massive 158 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (#RCB). The #VijayMallya 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 #ViratKohli, the #RCB displays a mixture of youth and experience but remains heavily dependent on its famous #BattingLineup.

Royal Challengers Bangalore full squad for IPL 2017

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)

Key players:

Virat Kohli 

He 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 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.

AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is #Superman. #ABD 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.

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 IPL 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.

#RCB #Match #Schedule for IPL 2017

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

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IPL 2016 Warners Davids Ambush Virats Goliaths SRH Wins IPL Crown

#IPL2016 Final
#RCBvsSRH
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

With all Odds stacked against them, (underdogs tag, lesser firepower than their fancied opponents, etc) the Sunrisers Hyderbad #SRH ambushed Royal Challengers Bangalore #RCB in a thrilling IPL final at the latter's den (another remarkable feat) to lift the IPL 2016 Cup and honors.

It all began with a bold decision at the toss that took everyone (experts were baffled and there were mixed reactions about it) when David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first. Huge move. His explanation? he would play to his strength of bowling second and defending a score in a big final. Since RCB was trouncing every team along the way by chasing down targets easily, experts felt this decision could backfire but their conviction seemed in place.

Dhawan and Warner got off to a slowish start scoring 21 in 3 overs but then Warner began to open his arms and soon they were 60 in 6 overs, an ideal start to the final. The fall of Dhawan's wicket followed shortly by Henriques evened things up and RCB started garnering hopes of restricting the SRH total.

In walked Yuvraj and unleashed a barrage of hits. Warner on the other end was blitzing his way as well. The two added a quickfire half-century stand before Warner fell to Aravind, a sliced edge to short third man. Deepak Hooda never looked in and holed out to long on. Once Yuvraj holed out to long off as well, the SRH were in serious trouble of being restricted to under 175. 

This is when Ben Cutting took centrestage. He first steadied the innings and then unleashed his fury in the last over on Shane Watson. He smashed 3 sixes and 1 four in the over (one of the sixes being a massive 117 metre hit that went out of the stadium) to not only cross the 200 run mark but lending a very good buffer to their initial goal of around 175-180 as par score.

But, was 208 enough to defend against the firebrand RCB line up of Gayle, Kohli, AB, Watson, Rahul? Not enough surely, especially considering their batting form in the second leg of the tournament.

Gayle and Kohli started in same fashion as SRH, but exploded in the same fashion too. Gayle looked  to hit the groove first and smashed a couple of sixes off Sran to increase their momentum. Kohli was happy to play second fiddle. Gayle then thrashed Henriques, Cutting and Bipul to post his fifty off 28 deliveries. Kohli then joined the party and the 100 came up in 10 overs! Perfectly on course ...

It was Cutting again who turned it around for SRH but inducing a top-edge from Gayle down to third man. In walked whom? AB ... it was like the storm was gone but fire would break in soon. Sran then prized out the other opener, Kohli, for a superb 54 and the game began to veer. 

AB holed out to extra cover off Bipul, Rahul was castled by Cutting and Watson holed one again to covers off Mustafizur to tilt the game in SRH favour. Chris Jordan was runt soon after. Stuart Binny played some lusty blows but was run out owing to silly basic mistake of looking at the ball when running between wickets.

With Bhuvi and Mustafizur to ball the last 4 overs, with 47 needed and SachinBaby and Abdulla at the crease, the task was almost impossible. From 114 for no loss in 11 overs, they had slumped to 162 for 7 in 16 overs. The writing was on the wall and with all their efforts, they finally ended on 200 for 7 in 20 overs. SRH had won by 8 runs. History was made. SRH champions for the first time. RCB three final losses would be gut-wrenching for them (earlier losses in 2009 and 2011 will hurt too). 

A terrific tournament was capped by a terrific final.
Warner's Davids had conquered the Royal Goliaths.

Man of the Match: Ben Cutting for his all-round performance
Player of the Tournament: Virat Kohli

Orange Cap: Virat Kohli
Purple Cap: Bhivaneshwar Kumar

Fairplay Award: Sunrisers Hyderabad (it has been observed since beginning of the IPL that teams that conduct themselves well on the ground are ones that do well in the tournament. This year was no exception)

Emerging Player of Tournament: Mustafizur Rehman
All round Player: A B Devilliers

Almost all top honors shared by SRH and RCB players clearing showing they were the two best teams in the tournament.

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IPL2016 Final: And Then There Were Two ... RCB vs SRH

#IPL2016
#IPLFinal
#RCBvsSRH
Bengaluru, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

After a two months of heavy action and hustle-bustle between 8 teams, the two best performing teams have reached the finals. I wont say they are the best teams of the tournament though.

#RCB had a horrible start and they were precariously placed until the #Virat-AB show saved them the blushes. Their biggest weaklink, their bowling came good at the right moment too and they are now the team to beat on current form.

#SRH on the other hand, started brilliantly. Their bowling, arguably the best bowling side of the tournament, pushed them top of table early in the tourney but reversals down the line meant they had to huff-puff their way to the qualifiers. Its only in the Eliminator and Qualifier2 that they seem to build an intensity to win the title.

So, WHO WILL WIN THE CUP??

Batting
RCB have a clear edge here. Virat, AB, Gayle, Watson, KL Rahul, Baby, Binny are better than their SRH counterparts head to head. Virat beats Dhawan, AB negates Warner, Gayle negates Yuvraj, Watson beats Henriques on experience, Rahul, Baby and Binny seem better off than Dwivedi, Ojha and Hooda. Mind you SRH batting can explode anytime. Yuvi is due and has shown he can take the bowlers to the cleaners. Bipul Sharma's cameos in both previous games tilted victory towards SRH from tricky situations. Look out for him and Dwivedi. Dhawan is over due.

RCB will expect the law of averages has hit Virat just in that Qualifier1 game. If he scores his first 10 runs with confidence today, he will close the game. So will AB or Gayle. Thats why they are a more formidable batting lineup than SRH.

Bowling
The scenario changes by 180 degrees here. SRH has been the bowling side of the tournament and that too without too many spinners! Bhuvaneshwar and Mustafizur have led that attack brilliantly. Henriques, Boult, Sran and Cutting have played their support role very well too.

RCB on the other hand, have some issues with their bowling. Although Watson with all his experience and Jordan with his wily death over bowling skills, can do damage they have shown propensity to go for a lot of runs too. An off day would be mean chasing 20-25 runs extra with added pressure. Chahal has been their trump of the season though.His leggies have baffled teams and in rush of scoring against him, they have perished to his guile. Aaron, Richardson haven't done much to instill confidence of their skipper. Abdulla is a good spinning option alongside Chahal.

Experience of IPL Finals?
#RCB have experienced IPL finals before in 2009 and 2011 but lost both of them while #SRH are straddling unknown territory. Who will feel better? Guess, SRH because they have nothing to lose, they will treat it as a new fresh game but RCB with those two losses in their bag will carry bad memories with them.

Home ground Advantage?
Yes, very much with RCB. They will have the home crowd rooting for them big time and put pressure on visiting SRH. Also, Eliminator and Qualifier1 were played in New Delhi. The conditions, pitch were dramatically different than Chinnaswamy.

X-Factors
For RCB, it would be undoubtedly Chahal's bowling alongside #Virat-AB batting combination.

For SRH, it would be their key bowlers - Bhuvi, Mustafizur (if fit) and #Warner's batting.

Weather?
Rain is forecast for match day and this will make things interesting especially at the toss. Monday is reserve day for the finals though.

Preparations?
RCB qualified for the final on Tuesday (4 days ago) and already camped in Bengaluru since. They will have rested their players well, tackled niggling injuries and adjusted to the conditions better. 
SRH on the other hand had to sweat it out in Eliminator on Wed, Qualifier1 on Friday and then fly down from NewDelhi to Begaluru late last evening (owing to a flight delay). This has given them very less, if at all, time to recuperate and prepare for this game at the venue.

All in all looks like a SRH Bowling vs RCB Batting contest this.
Can't wait for the game to get started.
Let the best team win!!!

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WT20 - Power Masters LalaAfridi and GayleStorm Dominate Day 2

#WT20 - #Pak v #Ban
Group 2 Match
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

#Lala #Afridi sends a warning to #India with a brilliant all round performance vs #Bangladesh

Pakistan's batting, the seemingly weak link came to the party today with their top order really clicking well to set up a big score of 201 in 20 overs. Shehzad, Hafeez built a solid platform and Afridi just launched a breath-taking assault on the hapless Bangla bowlers to pile up a huge score.

In return, Bangladesh were no match for the fiery Pak seamers, especially Mohammad Amir. They could only manage 146 for 6 in their 20 overs. Shakib's fifty ad Shabbir's brief onslaught the only highlights of their innings.

#LIVE #SCORE
Pak - 201 for 5, 20 overs
Ban - 146 for 6, 20 overs
Man of the Match: Shahid Khan Afridi Lala

#WT20 - #Eng v #WI
Group 1 Match
Wankhede, Mumbai

#Gayle "Storm" strikes #England

Chasing a daunting 183, the Superstar West Indian smashed his second WT20 hundred (only player to do so) in just 47 balls to help Windies canter home by 6 wickets and 2 overs to spare!

He was lethal on seamers, spinners, medium pacers and just about everything that England threw at him. He has sent a strong message to other teams in the competition to not take #WI lightly.

#LIVE #SCORE
England - 183 for 5, 20 overs
West Indies - 184 for 4, 18.1 overs
Man of the Match: Chris Gayle-SPARTAN

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Killer "Gayle" Wakes Up - Thrashes KXIP Into Oblivion

#ChrisGayle vs #KXIP

The sleep whale, #ChrisGayle, woke up today and covered up for that poor form he was carrying all throughout this #IPL8. He's just that kind of a player. On his day, he can literally decimate any bowling attack in the world. Neither big names in bowling matter, nor where they pitch the ball does! That's why he is an impact player and this innings will have impacted #RCB no ends and they will look to soar ahead in the points table from now on, clearly knowing other teams will be vary of a Gayle storm possibility every game.

Today he was simply unstoppable right from the word go!
Mitchell Johnson was selected to start his run feast and he carried that along to all other bowlers including Axar Patel, Karn Singh, Glenn Maxwell and Sandeep Sharma. Anureet Singh was the only bowler to hold his head high with a brilliant spell for 0 for 25 in 4 overs when there was carnage at the other end.

Gayle's innings included 7 fours and 12 massive sixes i.e. exactly 100 runs came in boundaries. He was so dominant that his other superstar colleagues Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers were rendered mere spectators in that onslaught. Not that they were complaining but they are brisk scorers in their own right and to see them as bystanders in an innings indicates the complete domination shown by Christopher Gayle! 

This is only the second century at this year's IPL (next to Brendon McCullum's 100 against KXIP as well). No wonder the two most explosive batsmen in world cricket have centuries to their name. On their day, no bowler is great enough to take them out.

In response, the jolted and shocked KXIP team capitulated poorly for 88 all out in 13 overs. Aravind and Starc grabbed 4 wickets each. The impact by Gayle was so much that no batsmen looked settled or focused. 

There are Thunderstorms forecasted for many venues in coming days. We witnessed a Gayle storm yet again today! Thank you very much maannn!!

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CWC15 LIVE - Lightning Boult Shocks Windies Inspite Of Gayle Storm

#NewZealand vs #WestIndies
#Wellington
21st Mar 2015

As it is chasing 393 was going to be a very tough, loss of early wickets has made it impossible for Windies to comeback in this game.

This considering #GayleStorm is still at the crease and creaming bowlers all over the park. #TrentBoult has picked all 4 wickets to fall so far and bowling great lines.

The Windies came out with a purpose and started smashing from Ball 1 as needed. However, everytime they tried to string a partnership, Boult was there to sneak out a wicket.

#DanVettori's catch to dismiss #MarlonSamuels was one of the catches of the tournament!

Looks like we are in for some entertainment this evening if Gayle stays for an hour.
393 is way to far but as long as Gayle stays, Kiwis will not want to relax a bit.   

#LIVE #CRICKET #SCORE
NZ: 393 for 6, 50 overs
WI: 108 for 4, 13 overs

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Windies Lose Steam Chasing Massive 408 v SA

#SA v #WI, #LIVE at the #SCG
27th Feb 2015

Stunned and Blown away by a batting masterclass from ABcD of cricket (#ABDevilliers), Windies have floundered miserably in their run chase of 408.

#KyleAbbott removed their biggest threat #ChrisGayle in his first over, crashing his middle stumps.
The celebrations by SA after that wicket just showed how much that meant to them.

He then induced #Marlon Samuels to hit one down DeKock's throat for nought.

#MorneMorkel had #JamesCarter caught by #ABD for 10 (can you keep AB out the game for long?)

#ImranTahir, then induced a double breakthrough, claiming #DwayneSmith for 31 and trapping #LendlSimmons for nought.

West Indies 63 for 5.
#DeneshRamdin and #DarrenSammy at the crease.
End doesn't seem far away.

Windies left to lick their wounds.  

As it stands (assuming a SA victory),
Pool B - 4 teams at 4 points each now. This is getting exciting. 

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CWC 2015 - Video - WI vs ZIM - Gayle Destruction

#ChrisGayle's stormy 215
#MarlonSamuel's patient and supporting 132

Plenty of records broken
1. Fastest ODI Double Hundred
2. First World Cup Double Hundred
3. Most sixes by a batsman in an innings - 16
4. Highest Partnership for any wicket in ODIs
5. First occasion of a double hundred and hundred in the same innings of an ODI

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Gayle Storm At Manuka Oval

#WI v #Zim, #ManukaOval, #Canberra
24th Feb 2015

There were signs of thunderstorms and rain at the Manuka Oval, venue for the West Indies v Zimbabwe game in Pool B. There was a storm .. but it was a "Gayle" storm that blew one and all away!!

In an amazing display of power hitting and timing, #ChrisGayle recorded the first #doublecentury ever at a World Cup, #fastest double century ever and rewrote a lot of batting records. 

Chris Gayle - 215 off 147 balls, 10 fours and 16 sixes ... need we write more.

The hapless Zimbabwean bowlers were taken to the cleaners really and had no idea what hit them.
As a solace they did get him out off the last ball of the innings caught at mid-wicket by Chingumbura off Masakadza.

It must be noted that Gayle was absolutely "plumb" (according to most experts commenting on the game including #ShaneWarne and #ShaunPollock) in the very first over of their innings. Rapped on the back leg, the Zimbabweans went all up in #appeal for #legbeforewicket. #Umpire #SteveDavis thought otherwise and turned it down. After some consultation, Zim captain decided to #review it with the #third umpire.

- Legitimate ball (no overstepping of the crease by the bowler) - Yes
- Pitching in line - Yes
- Hitting in line - Yes
- Any edge - No
- Hitting wickets - Umpire's call????

Naked eye said dead straight, plumb. Hawk eye said missing stumps and umpire's call. Appeal/Review was rejected and original decision of not out stayed. 

Guess, it was an indicator that Gayle storm had arrived and how? brutal and lethal.

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