Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking to lift their first Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy in the 2018 edition of the domestic T20 competition that will take place from April 7 to May 27.
The Bangalore-based franchise is one of the three sides that were there from the inception of IPL to have not won the league. The other two sides are Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. RCB made it to the finals on three occasions, losing all of them against Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
India captain Virat Kohli will lead the side in the 11th edition of the IPL. He will be hoping to guide the Royal Challengers to the title this season.
RCB have made several changes to their squad this time. They released Chris Gayle, who was acquired by Kings XI. However, RCB retained Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan.
At the IPL auction that took place in January, Bangalore added the likes of Chris Woakes, Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, Moeen Ali, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Umesh Yadav and Washington Sundar to the squad.
RCB are well-stacked in their batting division as their explosive lineup includes Kohli, de Villiers, McCullum, de Kock, Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh and Khan, while Anderson, Woakes, Sundar and Ali can also contribute with the bat and ball if picked in the playing XI.
Out of the four foreigners, de Villiers and McCullum likely have their places sealed. The other two spots may have tough competition, where Southee, Woakes, de Kock and Anderson will fight for a place.
RCB also have Parthiv Patel, meaning he is likely to get the nod ahead of the South Africa wicket-keeper. Should he be selected, he has more chance of opening the innings with the former New Zealand captain. RCB made quality additions to their backroom staff as well. India's World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten has joined Royal Challengers Bangalore.
With the bat, McCullum and Kohli will be the key for RCB, while Chahal and Sundar will have a task on their hands to control the scoring rate of the opposition.
RCB squad for IPL 2018: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Quinton de Kock, Mohammed Siraj, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin De Grandhomme, M. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Pavan Deshpande, Anirudha Ashok Joshi
