3 interesting things which happened when RCB changed their logo in 2016

The game of cricket has a huge fan-following in India. In fact, the sport is considered as a religion in the subcontinent. The huge popularity of this game is in turn responsible for the wealthy and powerful cricket boards in South Asia. The advent of franchise-based T20 leagues especially the Indian Premier League has changed the dynamic of how the game is viewed in India.

The enthusiasm regarding the game is increasing with each passing day. Superstitions are an intrinsic part of the Indian lifestyle. There are superstitions regarding every matter in every walk of life. Even a modern-day sport like cricket wasn’t immune to such unfounded beliefs. Various astrologists, as well as numerologists, dish out various names or combinations for different franchises which would supposedly help them in achieving more success in the cash-rich league.

Interestingly, the management of many franchises have succumbed to such superficial tendencies. Delhi Daredevils changed their name to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 12th season of the T20 league. Kolkata Knight Riders changed their jersey colour from black to purple just before the 4th edition in 2011. Royal Challengers Bangalore changed their logo in 2016 and have changed it again ahead of the upcoming season.

Here are the 3 interesting things which happened when RCB changed their logo in 2016:

1. RCB reached the finals

The logo change indeed brought a change in fortunes for the RCB as far as the 9th edition of the league is concerned. They managed to qualify for the finals for the 3rd time in history and after a gap of 5 years since their last appearance. The Bengaluru-based franchise faced Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. The match turned out to be a complete thriller in which the team from Hyderabad emerged victorious, clinching the match by 8 runs in a closely contested match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have always been tagged with the name of perennial underachievers. They, however, managed to get rid of that tag for a little while after the 2016 season. As far as league stage was concerned, they sealed the second spot with 8 victories from the 14 matches they played. In fact, their net run-rate was higher than any other team during the round-robin leg of the tourney.

Their title drought, however, continued even in their 3rd attempt as they choked in the finals against the Sunrisers. Chasing 209 runs for the title, the challengers could score only 200 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted overs. The challengers required 18 runs to win in the final over, however, Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept his nerve and conceded only 9 runs to hand the title to Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB though won accolades from their fans again for their spirited performance, couldn’t reach the pinnacle.

2. Virat Kohli amassed most runs as well as most hundreds in a single IPL season

Before the 9th edition of the tournament, IPL was all about the Universe Boss Chris Gayle, who had been dominating one season after another. However, the 9th season brought a slight change to this trend. This season saw the emergence of Virat Kohli, the aggressor. The captain literally led from the front as he established himself as an opener in this season.

The skipper broke a lot of records in that season. He made the record of most runs in an IPL season as he managed to score a staggering 973 runs in just 16 matches at an average of 81.08 and an impressive strike rate of 152.03. No other batsman has ever managed to compile such a huge amount of runs in a single season. He also scored the highest number of sixes (38) in that season.

Virat Kohli didn’t have a single IPL hundred before the 2016 season. However, things changed significantly in this edition as he managed to score 4 tons in the 2016 edition. He scored a 113 against Kings XI Punjab, 109 against Gujarat Lions, 108 against Rising Pune Supergiant and a 100 again against Gujarat Lions. Thus, he also attained a record of most number of IPL centuries by an Indian batsman.

3. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers scored hundreds in a single innings

The cricket following population across the globe went in for a treat when the Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Gujarat Lions in their second meeting of the tournament. Gujarat had managed to emerge victorious in the previous match, defeating RCB by 6 wickets. However, the Bengaluru-based team had different plans for this encounter. The skipper Virat Kohli and Mr. 360 AB de Villiers took the game away from the opposition right at the very outset of the game.

Batting first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the challengers took the bowling attack of the opposition completely apart. Virat Kohli made 109 runs from 55 deliveries and de Villiers scored 129 from 52 balls as RCB managed to put 248 runs on board for the loss of just 3 wickets. Thus, they became the second pair of batsmen to score a hundred in the same T20 innings. In fact, they were the first ones who achieved this feat in the Indian Premier League.

None of the bowlers from the opposition could make a dent in RCB’s batting during the match. Even their ace bowler Dwyane Bravo conceded 46 runs in 3 overs. In fact, even their batting line-up surrendered meekly in the second innings as Gujarat Lions folded up for 104. Thus, Kohli and de Villiers by clinching this match made sure that their names would be archived in the chronicles of history.