IPL: Ranking RCB's three greatest batters of all time

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will start their Indian Premier League 2023 campaign on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium against Mumbai Indians. Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis will again be at the helm of the franchise. The team looks formidable on paper and made some exciting purchases during the auction this year. As the IPL will return to the original home and away games format, the fans will be all set to paint the city of Bangalore red and black.

Over the years, the franchise has made some interesting moves at the auction table, but batting has been their core strength since starting the league in 2008. They have scored two of the highest totals in IPL's history. Five of the top ten batters in the highest run-scorer list have played for RCB at least once in their IPL career. RCB batters have won the Orange Cap thrice in 15 years of the Indian Premier League.

Here are RCB's three greatest batters of all time in IPL:

3. Chris Gayle

Chris' Universe Boss' Gayle arrived in RCB camp in 2011 after spending the initial years with Kolkata Knight Riders. In his debut game, Gayle scored 102 runs off 55 deliveries, which started the' Gayle Storm phenomenon. He became the first RCB player to score over 600 runs in a season and finished with 608 runs in just 12 games at an average of 67.55 and a strike rate of 183.13. Interestingly, Gayle went unsold during the auction that year and was picked by RCB as a replacement for injured Dirk Nannes.

In 2012, Gayle surpassed his record and became the first player to score over 700 runs in a season in IPL. He also became the first player to win Orange Cap back-to-back and is still the only batter to achieve this feat. Gayle blessed the 2013 season of the league with his batting prowess and scored over 700 runs again. On April 2013, he went berserk against the now-defunct Pune Warriors India team and made 175 runs off just 66 deliveries, including 17 sixes.

RCB parted ways with Gayle before the 2018 edition of the league. He played in 91 games for the team, scoring 3420 runs at an average of 43.29 and a strike rate of 154.40. Gayle hit five centuries and 21 half-centuries for the team. Gayle still holds the highest individual score in IPL's history.