Predicted Playing XI of RCB if only Indians play in IPL 2020

Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team with a gargantuan fan-base. A team led by arguably one of the finest, fiercest and ablest players in the history of the sport. You look at RCB and inevitably tell yourself- “Ah, what a phenomenal bunch of players!” But somehow, the campaign of “Ee sala cup namde” has reduced to a mere anthem. Year after year, RCB plays and finds itself finishing exactly where it would not like.

A new season arrives, the anthem resurfaces, the season ends and the anthem remains unfulfilled. RCB is massively scrutinized, and why not? It has the potential; it has almost everything a team needs, yet not once in the 12-year history of IPL has the “Play Bold Army” managed to emboss its name on that spangling trophy.

RCB has become wiser over the years. In the auction for 2020, it filled quite a few gaps, spent vigilantly, retained cautiously, and ensured to build a team that has a good combination of youth and experience. Little did anyone know that April and May, two months synonymous with the IPL would be spent looking at the table of COVID-19 cases and not the points table of our beloved tournament. 

With uncertainty looming over the fate of the cash-rich league, there are speculations ranging from organizing the IPL behind closed doors to having the tournament without foreign players. If so happens, almost every team will come across challenges related to the selection of players and making a balanced playing XI.

Let’s find out what an all-Indian RCB will look like:

1. Parthiv Patel 

Picked by the RCB in 2018 as a backup wicket-keeper, Parthiv Patel has been a reliable member of the side. The Gujarat-born southpaw has been a handy batsman and a decent option behind the wickets, but never one of those muscular hitters pummeling cricket balls. Parthiv’s stint in the IPL can be best summarized as lukewarm.

Having played 139 matches under 6 different IPL franchises, he could be termed an experienced player. However, his numbers don’t paint an impressive picture. With a rather underwhelming average of 22.6 and a strike rate just a touch over 120, he is not one blazing opener that a team wishes to have. 

The 35-year-old will surely have a bigger and more responsible part to play in this edition if the likes of Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers miss out.