Once looked down and out from the race of play-offs, Royal Challengers Bangalore are now in the final of the 9th edition of the Indian Premier League. There are some great individual performances which took them to this stage where they will be facing the Sunrisers Hyderabad side for the one last time in the battle to lift the IPL trophy for the very first time.
CricBol analyses the players who has played the key role in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s successful campaign.
(1) Virat Kohli :- Skipper of the side, Kohli has led his team from the front both as a captain and as a batsman. He has broken many records this season (Most runs in a single edition of IPL, Most hundreds in a single edition of IPL, Best average in IPL 2016) to name a few. He needs 81 more runs to create a mountain of 1000 runs in a single edition of IPL. It will be some milestone if he manages to reach there. He sets the bar for himself every time he walks out to bat these days.
(2) AB de Villiers :- Well what can anyone say about this genius from South Africa, He does everything in such a unique way that other mere mortals can’t even imagine of. How can anyone forget his effort in the first qualifier where he snatched the victory from the jaws of Gujarat Lions with his herculean batting effort (79 off 47 balls). So far in this season of IPL de Villiers has made 682 runs in 15 innings and he is in the 3rd position in the list of most run scorer in IPL 2016. The fans of RCB will be hoping that AB fire for them for the one last time in this season.
(3) Yuzvendra Chahal :- Among all the batting superstars in the Royal Challengers camp this leggie from Haryana has done his job quite magnificently. Despite taking 20 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 18.30 and at an strike rate of 13.55 he is still very under-rated and people hardly talk about his contribution in RCB’s successful campaign. Virat Kohli must be hoping that for the one last time this season Chahal delivers the final stroke for him.
(4) Shane Watson :- This recently retired Aussie all-rounder still can deliver the knock-out punch when needed both with the bat and the ball. 20 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 21.20 and the economy of 8.07 speaks the volume of his contribution to RCB’s successful campaign, add to that he has made 168 runs at an strike-rate of 134.40. A true all-round cricketer who can be a key to any captain’s strategy making. Watson currently is in the 2nd position in the list of most wickets takers just 3 wickets behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
(5) Lokesh Rahul :- Just like Yuzvendra Chahal with the ball, this stylish right-hander from Karnataka has been quite under-rated. throughout the season he has played under the shadow of Virat, de Villiers etc.. When Chris Gayle was going through the bad phase and went back to West indies because of his first born baby, skipper Virat Kohli backed Rahul to open the inning with him and Rahul did justice to his Captain’s faith. He has made 386 runs in 11 innings this season at an average and strike-rate of 48.25 and 147.32 respectively. he also kept the wicket despite being the non-regular wicket keeper just for the sake of balance team composition.