Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) snuck into the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs in 2020, but were soundly beaten in the eliminator, and will want to nail their playing XI in order to finally secure that elusive maiden title in 2021.
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RCB will enter the 2021 IPL with a much different squad to last year, especially in the overseas department. Adam Zampa and AB de Villiers are the only foreign players to get a game last year to still be in the squad. Whether the significant reshuffle leads to a change in fortunes remains to be seen.
Major changes we could see
After another unfulfilling campaign, Royal Challengers Bangalore look set to ring the changes in 2021. They have let go of Australia captain Aaron Finch, with his up and coming countryman Josh Philippe retained in his stead. Exciting Kiwi Finn Allen has since replaced Philippe, but, with Virat Kohli having stated his intention to move up to open and Devdutt Padikkal ensconced in the top order, it’s likely he will spend plenty of time warming the bench.
RCB have also let go of Chris Morris and Isuru Udana, two of their four most frequently used overseas players last year, and have splashed big money on their replacements, Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson. Those two are sure to get long stretches in the side, even though the former has a questionable IPL record, and the latter is unproven in T20 cricket overall.
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Shivam Dube is another first-teamer to have been let go in the off-season, though RCB are likely to have their overseas batsmen do the finishing, with Mohammad Azharuddeen a candidate to move up the order to lay the platform for the likes of AB de Villiers, Maxwell and Dan Christian.
RCB squad for IPL 2021
Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Harshal Patel, Finn Allen, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore likely first-choice playing XI
Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammad Azharuddeen, AB de Villiers (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj.
