Royal Challengers Bangalore have rarely managed to live up to the expectations. Despite assembling one of the best squads year after year, they are yet to taste success in the Indian Premier League.
Their reputation took the further beating after their disastrous performance last year.
They could win only three games and finished the season at the bottom of the league. And as expected, the franchise is now desperate to bounce back after the forgettable outing last year. They have once again assembled a quality squad this season.
Before the auction, they had retained their star duo Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers along with Sarfraz Khan.
In the auction, they bolstered their bowling department by signing the likes of Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Moeen Ali, Umesh Yadav and others.
The Royal Challengers have also beefed up their backroom staff, bringing in Gary Kirsten as batting coach. Kirsten was at the helm when India won the 2011 World Cup under MS Dhoni. Kohli, on Wednesday, revealed he played an important part in Kirsten’s appointment.
Citing his example, Kohli said the former Proteas opener’s appointment would help the youngsters.
“I was personally in favour of getting Gary [Kirsten] on board. This discussion came up sometime before the auction happened. I thought it’s a great opportunity for the younger guys to spend time with Gary because I benefited massively from his inputs in the early stages of my career and that certainly made me a better cricketer in those tough times. I had a great working relationship with Gary.”
“In terms of the batting group operating, I think he’s the ideal man to supervise things. He can keep the batting group together which I saw him do at the international level with the Indian cricket team. Having so many big names in the team and how he got everyone together and the team spirit going, I think that was an outstanding factor as far as I saw it. Having Gary on board is definitely an advantage,” Kohli added.
The Royal Challengers will begin their IPL 2018 campaign with an away fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 8.
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