Ipl
The story begins in September 2007 when BCCI decided to start IPL. Just like players are auctioned today, the first franchise. After purchasing the team, it was named Royal Challengers Bangalore and controversies started with this name as the team was named after a liquor. While on one hand the name created controversy, on the other hand the name ensured that RCB became the most popular team of IPL from the very first day. When the first IPL auction took place on 20th February 2008, each team was asked to choose an icon player. So Sachin went to Bombay, Delhi chose Sehwag and KKR chose their Prince Sourav Ganguly. Kolkata Knight Riders chose local boy Rahul Dravid as their icon player. Along with Dravid, powerful batsmen like Mark Boucher, Ross Taylor, Jacques Kallis and Cameron White were brought into the team. Along with this, 19-year-old Virat Kohli was also signed by RCB.In bowling too, world-class bowlers like Zaheer, Praveen, Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn were included in the team. To all of you. We have a great team, great atmosphere. On paper, RCB’s team looked very strong. And everyone thought that RCB could become the top contender for the trophy. But when the season started, the exact opposite The very first match in history was BOR vs KKR. But this star-studded team had a bad start. Batting first, KKR’s Brendon McCullum set the record for the highest individual score of that time in the first match of IPL. With 158 runs in 73 balls, KKR gave a target of 223 to RCB. At that time, there was no question of chasing such a big score in a T20 match. And everyone knew that RCB was going to lose. But no one thought that they would lose so badly. Most of the runs in RCB’s innings came from extras. RCB lost this match by 140 runs which is the greatest loss margin in their history so far. Out of 140 matches in this season, RCB lost 10 matches and hence they were at seventh in the points table. Apart from Dravid, no player crossed the 300-plus mark and no bowler was in the top 10 for the entire season. Overall, the 2008 season was a nightmare and Mallya took out his anger for this bad season by removing the team’s CEO Charu Sharma. The next season, India’s ex-cricketer Brijesh Patel became the new CEO. As soon as he came, the first thing he did was to trade Zaheer Khan from Mumbai and bring Robin Uthappa to RCB. Zaheer had taken the most wickets for RCB last season. So, trading him made sense. But it is not for common people to understand RCB’s strategy. Manish Pandey and Kevin Pietersen came in the team along with Uthappa. The team which was bowling heavy in the last season has now become batting heavy. KP was also made the captain but RCB lost four of the first six matches of the season. KP returned to England in the middle of the season for his national duty and Anil Kumble became the captain. This means that RCB changed three captains in 2 years. Many experts consider Kumble to be one of India’s greatest captains. And this season he proved it. RCB won six of the remaining eight matches. Due to which they not only finished at the top of the points table but also reached the final through the playoffs. An iconic match also came before the final. RCB bowled out Rajasthan for 58 runs. In this match, Anil Kumble took five wickets and took his first IPL five-wicket haul. Not only this, he was also the leading wicket taker for RCB this season and missed out on the Purple Cap. In the finals, RCB restricted Deccan Chargers to 143 runs. Just when it seemed that RCB would turn their luck around, they lost by six runs. But despite a bad start, the way RCB made a comeback won the hearts of many fans. Be it Jacques Kallis’s highest run or Virat Kohli’s first century, RCB had now become a brand This season was also very similar to 2009. Under Kumle’s captaincy, RCB not only reached the semi-finals but also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League T20. RCB won eight of their first solo matches and finished third in the table. Like last time
Again RCB’s leading run scorer was Jacques
Kallis with 572 runs and Anil
Kumble in bowling
Kohli’s bat also started to perform. In 17 matches, he scored 307 runs, including a half-century. Another
major highlight of this season was Praveen Kumar’s hat-trick,
in which he dismissed RR’s Damien Martin,
Sumit Narwal, and Paras Dogra.
At the end of the season, Anil Kumble
retired from the IPL, and a new face began for RCB.
Before this season, all teams had the option to retain only
four players.
Almost all teams retained four players.
But RCB retained only one player: Virat Kohli. Therefore, RCB built the team from scratch. Daniel Vettori was appointed captain, and AB de Villiers, Zaheer Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, and Cheteshwar Pujara were included in the team. However, one player remained unsold at the auction: Chris Gayle. But fate would have it that Gayle joined RCB as a replacement for Duck, and what happened next is well known. Chris Gayle became a superstar for RCB. This season, RCB won 10 out of 16 matches, their best record ever.
The world-famous trio of table-topping RCB emerged this season. Gayle,De Villiers and Kohli. While Virat was the second-highest run-scorer of the season with 557 runs, the Universal Boss won the Orange Cap with two centuries and 68 runs. Srinath Arvind was the leading wicket-taker in bowling with 21 wickets. This time again, RCB reached the finals, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the defending champions. The success of the previous three seasons had made RCB a brand. In 2012, it seemed the team could finally win the trophy because Kohli, Gayle, and Praveen Kumar were all in form. But the opposite happened. RCB won their first match against Delhi, but lost the next three matches in a row because the Universal Boss was unavailable for RCB. When he joined the team in the fifth match, the team won their next three matches convincingly. Moreover, Gayle was also named Man of the Match in two of these matches. Due to his explosive form, he was also the leading run-scorer this season. He scored 733 runs in 15 matches, including a century and 750
Gayle hit 59 runs this season, which also holds the record for most sixes in a season. Vinay Kumar was the team’s leading wicket-taker this season, taking 19 wickets. After seven matches, the team had four wins, and it seemed they would reach the playoffs this season as well. However, the team won only four of the next nine matches, finishing tied with CSK on 17 points. Due to net run rate, RCB was eliminated in the group stages. The pattern was clear to everyone: on paper, they were the best team, but were failing in high-stakes matches. A major change was needed, which came in the 2013 season.
so, this year, several bold decisions were made. Non-performing members like Mohammad Kaif and Rilee Russo were removed and RP Singh and Unadkat were added. The result was nine wins and five different MVPs. Meaning, the team’s overall performance was now improving. Despite having 18 points, the team failed to reach the playoffs this time too. There were two major reasons for this. The first was their dependency on other teams. To qualify for the playoffs, KKR had to beat SRH, which didn’t happen. The second reason was home-ground advantage. Every team wants to be strong on its home ground. But RCB
was only able to win at home.
As a result, RCB was eliminated from the league in fifth place for the second consecutive season.
But this season, RCB set some records that no other team has broken to this day.Gayle scored 708 runs in the season, including a century. This century was a historic IPL innings. Gayle scored 175 runs off just 66 balls against Pune. This remains the highest individual score in IPL history. Gayle scored 175 runs in this match, which remains an unbreakable record. This helped RCB set a target of 263 runs, which remained the highest team total in the IPL for nearly 10 years. In the same match, AB de Villiers made a remarkable cameo, scoring 31 runs off just eight balls. Virat Kohli also performed well this season. Not only did he score runs consistently as a captain, but Kohli was also seen becoming a chase master this season. But once again, RCB was unlucky, failing to qualify by two points.You can do it. You know, you can do it, just go for it. And we want to take those seven trophies in our hands this year. So now it was the turn of the 2014 IPL, which was to be held for a mega auction. Whether it was the auction, the on-field players, or the owners, this season was a flop for everyone. First, RCB bought Yuvraj Singh for 14 crore rupees, the most expensive buy of that season. AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Virat Kohli were already retained. Harshal Patel, Parthiv Patel, Muttiah Muralidhar, Mitchell Starc, and Yuzvendra Chahal joined the RCB team. Despite having such a strong team, the team managed to win only five matches by the end of the season. While the team was failing on the field, the next season. This season, both Virat and Gayle’s bats remained silent, and with 395 runs, AB de Villiers was the year’s leading run-scorer. No one bowled brilliantly, but RCB received excellent support from Varun Aaron and Yuzvendra Chahal. RCB’s biggest problem this season was losing at least five matches by very close margins, one by two runs and the other by 19. Therefore, the management felt RCB needed a finisher next season. And RCB made a decision that was widely trolled: releasing their most expensive player from the previous season, Yuvraj Singh. They released him just before the 2015 RCB got Dinesh Karthik in the name of a finisher. This season too, RCB’s squad looks quite good: De Villiers, Kohli, and Gayle in the top order; Karthik, Sarfaraz, and Bisla in the middle; and Chahal, Starc, and David Weiss in the bowling. Still, RCB managed to win only seven of their 14 matches.
The silver lining was that six different players, including bowlers, won the Man of the Match award this season. Chahal was also third in the Purple Cap race with 23 wickets. The top order was nearing the 500-run mark in batting.
De Villiers’ epic 133 also came this season. RCB qualified for the playoffs and won the Eliminator to advance to Qualifier 2, where they faced CSK. Batting first, RCB managed just 139 runs, but their bowlers also gave their all. Although every bowler took wickets, RCB lost another close match by three wickets, ending their season. Now, let’s look back at what is undoubtedly
Ipl 2016
- RCB’s best season ever. Nobody in the history of the franchise has had the year that Virat Kohli did in 2016. In the 2016 auction, RCB only acquired Shane Watson because the rest of the team was more or less settled. It seemed so on paper. With only two wins out of seven, every match for the team seemed like a do-or-die situation. Our King took full responsibility for this sinking ship. Not only did RCB win six of the next seven matches, but Kohli was also Man of the Match four times. In 2016, Kohli broke all IPL batting records.No one had ever scored more than 800 runs in a single season. But Kohli amassed 973 runs, thanks to four centuries.
And probably the main reason is in the final, because of his performance, but also his leadership.
De Villiers also supported him fully. In addition to his 687 runs, he also set an unbreakable fielding record by taking 19 catches. Besides these two, KL Rahul was RCB’s unsung hero with 450. This season too, Chahal was RCB’s leading wicket-taker. With 21 wickets, he was the second-highest wicket-taker of the entire season. Qualifier One saw a great battle between the top two teams in the points table, and by defeating Gujarat, RCB reached the final for the third time. Seeing RCB’s form, everyone hoped that perhaps RCB could win the cup. In the final, they faced SRH, who won the toss and batted first, scoring a mammoth total of 208. RCB got off to a good start. Kohli and Gayle scored 114 runs without losing a wicket, and RCB were very close to victory. But as soon as Gayle left, RCB’s entire team collapsed like a house of cards, losing the match by just e
8 runs RCB had never come so close to a trophy.
RCB’s next three seasons were forgettable.
Neither the batting nor the bowling was working.
Only Virat Kohli’s bat was working.
But how long could that man bear the burden?
the next three years. Batting didn’t work in 2017, bowling in 2018. Bowling improved in 2019, but the team was unable to chase that season. During this phase, the most infamous match in history occurred, where RCB was all out for 49 runs against KKR. This total is the lowest in IPL history, and RCB still holds this record. During this time, bowlers like UG and Umesh Yadav also emerged in the bowling department. But overall, nothing went right for RCB for three years. RCB needed a change. This change came in 2020. Structural changes need to be made that have been around for a quarter-long time.
And to be honest, no one except the core fans had much hope for RCB.
But RCB always delivers against expectations. And that’s exactly what happened this year. Despite Virat Kohli not being in top form, the team won seven matches.
Debutant Devdutt Padikkal scored the most runs for the team, followed by Virat Kohli with 466 runs and AB de Villiers. UG’s bowling magic worked once again, and with 21 wickets, he took the most wickets, helping the team reach the playoffs.
The eliminator match was against SRH. This time, RCB had the perfect opportunity to avenge the 2016 defeat. But luck favored Hyderabad, and SRH won the match with two balls to spare.
They took the team and made them have a party because they had lost. RCB was doing well in the league matches, but they would panic in high-stakes matches. The same story repeated itself in 2021. Glenn Maxwell was brought in as a finisher and, surprisingly, he became RCB’s leading run-scorer with 513 runs. Harshal Patel also won the Purple Cap with 32 wickets. This was the first time an RCB bowler was the leading wicket-taker in the IPL. Despite Kohli’s inconsistent form, the team qualified for the playoffs. This time, they faced KKR in the eliminator. But, like last year, KKR eliminated RCB by a close margin. It was very difficult for the fans to digest the defeat, and even harder was seeing two of their best players leave, the first being AB de Villiers, who announced his retirement from the IPL RCB also released UG in 2021. This was quite strange because his contribution to RCB was on a different level. He took 139 wickets in 113 matches for RCB, including two four-wicket hauls. On top of this, Virat Kohli also decided to step down as RCB captain.so now RCB needed a new captain and a replacement for. In 2022, RCB found the answers to both these questions. Faf du Plessis. Although RCB didn’t win a trophy in the next three years, Faf led the team from the front. He scored over 400 runs in all three seasons. In fact, in 2023, he finished second in the Orange Cap race with 730 runs. Under Faf’s leadership, the team reached the playoffs in 2022, but couldn’t defend the target of 158 set by RCB in the qualifiers due to George Buttler’s century. In 2023, they were eliminated in the group stages. Both years, RCB received good support from bowlers like Hasaranga and Siraj, but neither could single-handedly win the match.
Like the WPL, they didn’t win the IPL in 2024, but this time they thoroughly entertained everyone. RCB had lost seven of their first eight matches. RCB, languishing at the bottom of the IPL table mid-season, was written off by everyone. Their probability of reaching the playoffs was literally less than 1%. To reach the playoffs, RCB had to miraculously win their next six matches, and that too by a good margin, which they did. They qualified for the knockouts thanks to a net run rate of 191 against CSK in their final league match. RCB’s comeback was nothing short of miraculous. But their joy was short-lived, as they were once again eliminated by RR in the Eliminator. Now, RCB has reached its 18th season. Fans once again have high expectations from RCB in IPL 2025. This time, the team has undergone significant changes. Players like Phil Salt, Living Stone, Tim David, and Bhuvi have been brought in. RCB has started this season with renewed enthusiasm and zeal. By mid-season, RCB remained in the playoff race, and if they continued to perform at this rate, they would easily qualify. But watching RCB’s history, it’s difficult to say anything. Rcb finally won ipl trophy 2025