Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Indian Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most awaited cricket tournaments of the year and with two new teams, the 15th edition of the tournament is set to fuel more excitement and thrill. While the franchises are gearing up to bid in order to build a team that would take their guards viewing to lift the prestigious title, SportsTiger looks back at the history and attempts to analyse IPL's most dynamic franchise of all time i.e. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
About the franchise:
RCB is one of the most loved and followed cricket franchises in the sports world. The franchise has participated in the Indian Premier League ever since the T20 tournament started in 2008 and in no time created its most loyal fan base around the country. After 14-years of existence, RCB is still craving to lift the trophy, but its growing popularity has no limitations. The testimony is that recently, they were declared the most popular sports team in Asia in the digital space. In a study by Deportes & Finanzas, one of the biggest global data analytics firms, RCB was the most popular IPL team on social media for 2021 (engagement) and among the top 10 international sporting teams globally alongside Manchester United and Barcelona.
Team's history-:
RCB began their not-so-successful campaign in 2008 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid. The team started their IPL journey with a loss against Kolkata Night Riders and finished at the 7th spot. However, the team did some thinking in the 2nd edition of IPL and handed over the captaincy reign to Anil Kumble, who guided the team to the finals. Although the team lost the finals against Deccan Chargers, that was the beginning of IPL's most popular and dynamic franchise.
Team's owner
United Spirits is the owner of the RCB franchise in IPL. The Bangalore based franchise was bought in 2008 by the United Spirits, then owned by Vijay Mallya for a price of $111.6 million. It was the second-most expensive bid made for an IPL team after Reliance Industries bought Mumbai Indians for $111.9 million. In 2016, Vijay Mallya resigned as Chairman of United Spirits and had to give away his command over the Bangalore franchise. In October 2020, Anand Kripalu was announced as the CEO and Managing Director of Diageo India, and he took over as the next RCB chairman from Sanjeev Churiwala. Ever since Kripalu has been looking after the working of the Bangalore franchise.
RCB's brand valuation:
According to Duff and Phelps, RCB's brand value was estimated at around ₹595 Crores in 2019. However, in IPL 2020, the brand RCB witnessed a drop in value by 2%. A study done by Brand Finance revealed the brand value for RCB in 2020 was estimated at around $49.7 million.
Team's skipper:
With Virat Kohli already announced to quit RCB's captaincy, the franchise is all set to hire a new skipper for the new edition. However, RCB is one of the franchises that has enjoyed several players' leadership. The franchise started its IPL campaign under the supervision of Rahul Dravid (in 2008), but due to poor performance from the team franchise opted for Anil Kumble in the 2nd edition in 2009. The team qualified for the finals, and hence, Kumble continued to lead the franchise in the 3rd edition (2010). After which, the franchise trusted another off-spinner from foreign soil Daniel Vettori. He led the franchise in 2011 & 12, followed by Virat Kohli donning the captaincy cap for straight 7-years.
Qualification-:
RCB is always known to put the players of best standards in Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Kevin Pietersen, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle etc. Due to this reason team is always considered the probable contender for the trophy. However, they have failed to get their hands on the trophy, but they have qualified for playoffs (2010, 15, 20, 21), while three times they fell short in finals (2009, 11, & 16) to lift the prestigious trophy.
RCB's strategy in IPL 2022:
The Bangalore franchise have retained former skipper Virat Kohli (15 crores), Glenn Maxwell (11 crores), and Mohammed Siraj (7 crores) for the upcoming edition. Notably, the previous edition's purple cap winner Harshal Patel and spinner Yuzevendra Chahal were the surprising omissions. Their remaining purse value stands at ₹57 crores. While participating in the mega-auction the franchise will be hoping to build a formidable team for the upcoming seasons, but it will be an interesting factor to watch on which players franchise will show their trust to lead the franchise.
