Predicted Playing XI of RCB for IPL 2020 without overseas players

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm. All the events and gatherings including sporting events have been adversely affected by the rapid transmission of the virus. The scares caused by the pandemic have taken a heavy toll on all the sporting events which were to be conducted in this and in the following month.

Many events like PSL are being conducted behind closed doors. South Africa’s tour of India, New Zealand’s tour of Australia and Australia women’s tour of South Africa have been called off. The Road Safety World Series has also been postponed until further notice. In fact, even IPL 2020 has been postponed till April 15 as of now.

There is no idea when the situation regarding the outbreak of the virus will be taken under control. In such a scenario, the participation of foreign players in this year’s edition of IPL may be in jeopardy. In such a situation, the teams may have to adjust accordingly and carry on with the league with only Indian players in the playing XI.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is the team which consists of the superstars like AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Aaron Finch among others. And they will have to make do without them if the foreign players refuse to visit the country for the T20 extravaganza.

Here is our predicted playing XI of RCB for IPL 2020 without overseas players: –

1. Devdutt Padikkal

The 19-year-old batsman from Karnataka impressed one and all during his outings in the limited-overs leg of India’s domestic season. Opening the batting for Karnataka in both Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he showed glimpses of brilliance as the southpaw compiled a truckload of runs whilst taking his team to victory. In fact, at times he even outshone his more experienced counterpart, KL Rahul.

Padikkal was the leading run-scorer in both Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and hence made a name for himself in the initial stages of his career. In Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 609 runs in 11 innings at an average of 67.67. On the other hand, in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored 580 runs in 12 innings at an average of 64.44 with the highest score of 122 from just 60 deliveries. His strike rate of 175.76 in the latter helped in establishing his status as an aggressive opener.

The RCB squad consists of an experienced opener like Aaron Finch and exciting young talent like Josh Philippe. Both of them have a better chance of making it to the playing XI in absence of an experienced opener for Parthiv Patel. However, if the participation of both the Aussies is doubtful, Padikkal may be given a chance to feature in the playing XI.

2. Parthiv Patel (WK)

The Gujarat skipper is an automatic selection into the RCB playing XI and hence, there is no doubt about him featuring in the Playing XI without overseas players. Parthiv Patel is the most experienced Indian wicket-keeper batsman for the Bengaluru-based team. In fact, he has been a part of IPL since its inaugural edition in 2008.

The left-handed opener has played 139 matches in the league and has accumulated over 2800 runs at an average of 22.6. The numbers don’t do justice to the impact he has on the field with his aggressive yet cautious starts to the innings. He has plied his trade for 6 franchises as of now and has not disappointed in any season.

He has also kept wickets for India in a few matches and has been impressive behind the stumps as well as with the bat. Thus, Patel takes his place as a wicketkeeper in this line-up.

3. Virat Kohli (C)

No playing XI of the Royal Challengers Bangalore can be complete without the presence of their star player and their icon, Virat Kohli. He has been a part of the franchise since the inception of the league in 2008. In fact, he is the only player who has been a part of only a single franchise for all the 12 seasons till now.

RCB going out of the way every time to retain him for the next season speaks volumes about the value he adds to the team. He is already the leading run-scorer in IPL scoring 5412 runs in 169 innings at an average of 37.85. He proved his mettle and silenced all his critics in the 2016 season when he scored 973 runs in a single season with 4 hundreds to his name.

The Indian captain has also been the skipper of the team for a long time now. Despite the fact that he has not been able to lead them to the trophy in any season, the fans approach each edition with the same vigour and enthusiasm because of their belief in the skipper. Thus, Kohli will be leading the side in this line-up.

4. Gurkeerat Singh Mann

The 29-year-old batsman from Punjab was a revelation for RCB during the last season. After not getting enough opportunities throughout the season, Gurkeerat Singh Mann showcased his batting prowess in their last league game as he helped RCB in chasing down a stiff total by scoring 65 runs in just 48 deliveries. He can anchor the innings as well as provide the finishing touches.

In the domestic season, Gurkeerat and Mandeep Singh were the only bright spots in Punjab’s batting line-up. Mann has been quite impressive in the IPL even for his previous franchise Kings XI Punjab. He can strike the ball well and can hit sixes at will.

Along with his batting, he can be pretty useful with his finger spin also. His fielding, on the other hand, is brilliant. Thus, he is a complete package for every team. For a team like RCB, someone like Mann would be a perfect fit for the No. 4 slot.

5. Shivam Dube

The 26-year-old all-rounder from Mumbai was quite impressive in the domestic season as well as the T20 Mumbai League. Shivam Dube has made his name as a hard-hitting batsman. In fact, sometimes one sees glimpses of Yuvraj Singh in the way he bats and plays on the leg-side.

He is a more than useful bowler too who can bowl medium pace in the middle overs. In the absence of Hardik Pandya due to injury, Dube got a lot of chances in the Indian team and though he didn’t make much an impression, he certainly gained a lot of experience and perspective while sharing the dressing room with the seniors. He has also done a lot of work on his bowling.

During the last season, Dube got limited opportunities and could not make much use of it. However, this season may prove to be a game-changing one for him. He would be itching to make a mark in this edition of IPL and seal a place for himself in the Indian squad for the World T20. Thus, he takes his place as the primary pace-bowling all-rounder in the team.

6. Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar made headlines with his exploits for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL. Not a great spinner of the ball, Sundar relies on his line, length and accuracy to keep things tight for the batsmen. He is miserly with the ball and doesn’t let the batsmen score freely.

He has also been the part of Indian national set-up for a while now. In fact, he even opens the bowling for India in T20Is. With his tight line and length cramping batsmen up for room, he is a perfect option to go with for the powerplays.

Back in domestic cricket, Sundar bats up the order and is considered as an impressive batsman. His fielding skills also need no introduction. Sundar is a perfect player to bat at No. 6 for the RCB and chip in with a few tight overs.

7. Pawan Negi

One may rightly name Pawan Negi as ‘IPL’s favourite baby’. Starting his career with Delhi Daredevils as a left-arm spinner who could bat a little bit, he transformed into a utility all-rounder. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings after the 2013 season for whom he was quite impressive and even helped them in winning the 2014 edition of the Champions League T20.

Negi is also known for his tight spells wherein he pressurizes the batsman and then lures him to go for a shot leading to the fall of his wicket. Negi is a left-handed batsman and can score some useful runs down the order. Despite his skills, he never got a prolonged run at the international level.

Despite rejection at the national level, Negi churned out impressive performances in the IPL. In the 2017 season, he scalped 16 wickets in 12 matches while bowling for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His performance induced them to use their RTM card to retain him in the 2018 auctions. Clearly, the franchise has put a lot of faith in him and it is certain that he would feature in a number of games.

8. Navdeep Saini

Navdeep Saini was the only bright spot in RCB’s bowling during the last season. In a line-up filled with express pacers like Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj, he was the underdog. Yet he rose above everyone’s expectations and turned out as the most successful of all the bowlers.

On the back of his impressive performance in IPL, Saini got a call-up to the national side and made an impact instantly by grabbing three wickets in his debut match. He has been a regular feature in the Indian limited-overs side in absence of one or the other frontline pacer. He was even called up as a cover for Ishant Sharma recently in the Test series against New Zealand.

Saini can also bat a little bit down the order as was evident in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand when he scored 45 runs off 49 deliveries. He took India to the brink of victory in the match. On the back of his solid performances, he can be considered as an automatic selection for the playing XI.

9. Umesh Yadav

The 32-year-old pacer is one of the most experienced players in the Bengaluru-based franchise. His position in the playing XI when competed against Navdeep Saini is debatable. However, in the absence of foreign players like Dale Steyn, Kane Richardson, Chris Morris and Isuru Udana, Yadav would also get his place in the playing XI automatically.

His performances were below par in the previous season and he has also lost his place in the Indian limited-overs line-up. However, he made an impressive comeback in Tests in India’s 2019 home season as he partnered with Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma to destroy the opposition’s lineup. The Vidarbha pacer has the experience of bowling in 118 IPL matches.

He has scalped 119 wickets in 118 innings at a strike rate of 20.84 and an average of 29.38. He also has 2 4-wicket hauls to his name. In this line-up, Yadav would be sharing the new ball either with Saini or with Sundar as the conditions may dictate.

10. Mohammad Siraj

The 26-year-old Hyderabad pacer is an integral part of RCB’s bowling attack. He has been churning out impressive performances for his state side season after season. He has also become a regular feature in India A squads. Siraj is an express pacer like Umesh Yadav and can be deadly when in rhythm.

However, just like Yadav, Siraj doesn’t have much control over on his line and length due to which he can be taken apart by batsmen at times. He could not cement his place in the Indian side because of his inconsistency. However, he has made an impressive comeback in the recent India A tours.

While opening the bowling with Ishan Porel, Siraj looked deadly as ever and gave a tough time to batsmen. If he keeps up the good work, the Hyderabad pacer may be able to perform beyond everyone’s expectations in this season. Siraj would be the 3rd pacer in the playing XI.

11. Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal has become a household name now. Trending on social media because of his ‘meme-worthy’ pictures and ‘Chahal TV’, the 29-year-old is RCB’s frontline spinner. He is one of the most daring yet successful spinners India has produced.

The T20 format is tailor-made for Chahal’s bowling style. For someone who regularly tosses the ball up in search of wickets, the Haryana Spinner has been hugely successful in the IPL. He is a regular member of the Indian limited-overs squad too.

In IPL, Chahal has appeared in 84 matches and has scalped exactly 100 wickets and an average of 23.18 and strike rate of 17.87. He also has 2 four-wicket hauls to his name in the cash-rich league. He is the only quality Indian spinner in RCB’s squad and hence, his presence in the playing XI is certain.