Time for Virat Kohli the skipper to lead his team to glory

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has always been a formidable side in Indian Premiere League (IPL) history with some heavyweight players who can single-handedly change the course of the game on their day. Batsmen of the likes of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers are the most dangerous and intimidating cricketers around especially when it comes to the shortest format of the game. Incidentally, both have performed exceptionally well exhibiting their true potent with the bat for their side on a consistent basis over the years. However, the coveted IPL trophy has been eluding them till now.

Although their inaugural IPL season (2008) was not worth remembering when they finished second from the bottom under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, the Icon player of RCB but they made a strong comeback in the following edition (2009, held in South Africa) by reaching the finals. In IPL 4 (2011) they again reached the finals but lost to the mighty and the most consistent IPL side the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the next two seasons of the IPL (2012 & 2013) RCB failed to qualify for the playoffs very narrowly. It was from 2014, the 7^th edition, that the then poster-boy and the emerging Indian superstar Virat Kohli was appointed as the captain of the team. However, the tournament turned out to be a forgetful one both for the new skipper as well as his team with RCB finishing 7^th once again like the opening edition of the tournament. In the last season of the IPL (2015) RCB fared well under Kohli making it to the playoffs but couldn’t proceed further as their campaign came to an end while facing the CSK in Qualifier 2.

RCB would definitely be hoping that 2016 be the year when there would be a swing of fortune. With the nucleus of the side being more or less retained and the confidence of skipper Virat Kohli who is in a super-human batting form Bangalore would be looking for nothing less than the title itself which they haven’t won as yet despite having a star-studded batting line-up considered by many as the most devastating one in the cash-rich league.

Mitchell Starc’s absence would be a big blow for them but the inclusion of the recently retired Shane Watson who has a terrific IPL record to his name would certainly keep them in good space before the start of their campaign. Personally, Virat would be itching to show his captaincy skills to the world which hasn’t yet been manifested to the fullest. He is an aggressive and innovative captain who just thrives in leading from the front and looks to set examples. He has had the taste of winning the World Cup at home in 2011 but has never won a major T20 tournament, neither the T20 World Cup nor the IPL or CLT20.

From the threshold of winning two back to back Player of the tournament in two big tournaments- The Asia Cup and the recently concluded World T20, Kohli has been in an enviable form hitting a purple patch. But, the unexpected loss of the overwhelming favourites India against the West Indies in the semi-final at the Wankhede would be hard to swallow for someone like him who hates to lose and was taking his team on his shoulders alone. This would definitely motivate him even further combined with the fact that RCB although having a huge fan following and most importantly a great team hasn’t been able to register their name as champions of IPL even once.

Virat, being the captain who literally enjoys pressure situations would be surely leaving no stone unturned to accomplish the feat and thereby add another feather to his already elusive cap. The whole cricketing fraternity will now have their eyes on Virat Kohli- the captain more than ever before particularly after the popularity and respect he has earned all over the cricketing universe sheerly on the basis of his consistent and immaculate performance on the field. So it will be a stern test no doubt for the young skipper and the champion batsman who has an uncanny knack of setting records and he would again be looking to create another by leading his side, the Royal Challengers Bangalore to their first ever IPL trophy, a dream that they have been chasing for quite some time now.

A look at the statistical records of the RCB team – Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL journey in numbers

Written by Anamitra Sarkhel