IPL 2019: Predicting RCB’s best playing XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore are just one of three teams to never win an IPL trophy which is quite disappointing considering they have two of the best players in cricket (Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers). Every year, there has always been a void in RCB’s team that has hindered their IPL dreams.

This year, they went into the auctions with the hope to fill that void. Addition of players like Shimron Hetmyer, Heinrich Klaasen, and Shivam Dubey have made RCB’s squad look stronger than ever. But having a strong squad isn’t good enough, it is necessary to pick the perfect combination and find the right balance between your batsmen, all-rounders and bowlers. Teams (like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians) that get this combination right are often quite successful.

Hence, let’s take a look at RCB’s current list of players and try to predict the best possible playing XI for the upcoming season.

Openers - Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli

The best likely pair to open for the Royal Challengers Bangalore is Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli. Parthiv has a lot of experience in the IPL as an opener and he could play a crucial role in getting RCB off to good starts in the power play. We all know that Parthiv is not the type of player that is expected to go on and get a big score, but if he somehow manages to put on a 40 to 50 run partnership with Kohli, then this could help his team in a big way. Moreover, he is also a wicket-keeper which is a huge advantage for him.

As far as Virat is concerned, he has opened for RCB in the absence of an opener before and he has done fairly well for himself. Kohli is an exceptional batsman and he has proved over the years that he can bat at any position for his team. Expect Kohli and Parthiv Patel to come out all guns blazing as they try to get RCB to their first IPL win.