Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is one of the most loved franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), however, the team has been unsuccessful in capturing the IPL title despite having a star-studded lineup every season.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most successful T20 cricket in the world, certainly the best in the world in terms of T20 cricket league.
The Indian Premier League (IPL)’s first season was played back in the year 2008. A total of 8 teams were part of the tournament in the inaugural season. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is one of the founding member team.
They didn’t had a good outing in the inaugural season but somehow made it to the final of the IPL 2009 season, but ultimately lost to Deccan Chargers. Today in this article, we take a look at their playing XI from that match and where they are now.
Openers: Manish Pandey, Jacques Kallis
The openers for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in that match while chasing the target of 144 runs were Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis. While Jacques Kallis has retired from playing cricket and working as a coach nowadays, Manish Pandey will feature for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2023.
Middle-order: Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher, Robin Uthappa, Roelof van der Merwe
The middle-order of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2009 final contained Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher, Robin Uthappa and Roelof van der Merwe. Barring Virat Kohli, who still plays for the franchise, every other player has retired. Rahul Dravid is the current head coach of the Indian team while Mark Boucher was South Africa’s head coach but will join Mumbai Indians as their head coach for IPL 2023.
Ross Taylor though is away from cricket now. Meanwhile Robin Uthappa has retired from playing in the IPL but is currently playing for the Dubai Capitals in the International League T20 (ILT20). Van der Merwe played for the Northern Superchargers in ‘The Hundred’ in 2022 last.
Bowlers: Pravin Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Anil Kumble
The 3 bowlers for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL 2009 final were some quality swing, pace and spin bowler in Pravin Kumar, Vinay Kumar and Anil Kumble. But, all 3 of them have officially retired from the sport. While Anil Kumble was India’s head coach, he was recently sacked as Punjab Kings head coach. As for the other 2, they have kept themselves away from cricket.
