IPL 8, Know Your Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Present Squad

Virat Kohli (c),Varun Aaron, Sean Abbott, Abu Nechim, S Badrinath, Shishir Bhavane, Manvinder Bisla, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Ashok Dinda, Chris Gayle, Iqbal Abdulla, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Nic Maddinson, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Harshal Patel, Rilee Rossouw, Darren Sammy, Sandeep Warrier, Jalaj Saxena, Mitchell Starc, Yogesh Takawale, David Wiese, Vijay Zol(IPL 2015: Full Coverage)

Last year's squad

Virat Kohli (c), Varun Aaron, Abu Nechim, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Ashok Dinda, Chris Gayle, Shadab Jakati, Tanmay Mishra, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Harshal Patel, , Parthiv Patel, Ravi Rampaul, Sachin Rana, Rilee Rossouw, Sandeep Warrier, Mitchell Starc, Yogesh Takawale, Yuvraj Singh, Vijay Zol

Looking back: IPL-7 Results

Royal Challengers Bangalore endured a tough season in 2014. With only five wins out of 14 games, they finished at a lowly seventh spot, only ahead of Delhi Daredevils.

Looking forward: IPL-8

Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will be itching to get their name on the IPL trophy but the road to glory will not come easy. Bangalore have an enviable batting unit with Gayle, AB de Villiers and Kohli at the top but the middle and lower order are fragile. The inclusion of Darren Sammy could help them sort that issue. Kiwi pacer Adam Milne could fill in for Mitchell Starc, with the Aussie pacer set to miss first half of the tournament due to a knee injury.

Prediction: It could be another season of struggle for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The lack of balance could hurt them dearly and their biggest challege could be to showcase consistency over the long duration of the group stage.