There has been a lot of debate regarding the Feb 4th auction. Team RCB has $1.35 million approximately with which they can purchase some players. Honestly, team RCB has the best foreign players and it will be hard to accommodate new ones. Gayle, A..B, and Vettori will feature in most games if not all. The fourth spot will go to either Nannes/Dilshan/McDonald /Langeveldt/Pomersbach. The problem that we have had in the past has been with our middle-order batsmen and death overs bowling. The absence of Anil Kumble in the playing eleven is hurting our team, that is despite the fact that Vettori is doing a good job in the middle overs.  I just wish that RCB had chased after Amit Mishra in the 2011 auction instead of Pujara. The money spent on Saurav Tiwary and Pujara has not paid off really well (2.3 million for these two players combined). Saurav Tiwary may click in IPL 5 as per the law of averages, if he does not, then it must be because Mumbai Indians are paying him to play poorly for Team RCB (just joking).
If RCB can get R.P. Singh or Vinay along with Ramesh Powar on Feb 4th auction, then we can boast of having a complete team comprising of talented Indian as well foreign players. The playing eleven could be as follows:

Gayle
Kohli
Pujara
A.B.D
Saurav Tiwary
McDonald
Mayank Agarwal/Raju Bhatkal/Akhil
Vettori
Ramesh Powar/Appanna/Syed Mohammad
Zak
R.P. Singh/Vinay Kumar/Sreesanth

Most teams make sure that their top players get to face as many deliveries as possible, hence Gayle and Kohli should open. Mayank Agarwal can be considered for the opening slot but he is not very experienced against top class bowlers like Malinga, Alfonso Thomas, Ashwin, etc and Mayank should bat lower down the order as he is capable of hitting the long ball. Pujara should ideally play the role of the anchor in case the openers fail and the middle-order is exposed. This IPL is going to show the world the true class of A.B.DeVilliers, he has not been able to make a major impact because of Gayle and Kohli’s domination at the top. A.B along with Saurav Tiwary and McDonald can arrest a top order collapse. McDonald has a decent batting technique and someone who is capable of hitting big sixes once he gets his eye in. He can also be very handy with his right arm medium pace and should be given a place in the playing eleven keeping in mind that we have quite a few left arm bowlers. Mayank and Vettori can play the role of a floater, i.e someone who can be promoted up the batting order to increase the scoring rate. Vettori being a left-hander can be very valuable as the team will have a left-right handed batting combination to upset the line and rhythm of the opposition bowlers. Our RCB team should do everything it can do, to not depend too much on Gayle and Kohli. I just hope that Pujara will be able to play the role of Rahul Dravid or Kallis, he is a talented young man and should be backed by the team to perform his best.

The major issue that Team RCB is facing as of now is with its bowling department. If we can get one Indian medium pacer like the ones mentioned here-R.P. Singh/ Vinay Kumar/ Sreesanth along with Ramesh Powar, then we will have a pretty balanced team. I am not sure about Ramesh Powar’s fitness but we can most certainly use the services of an experienced off-spinner. Syed Mohammad is a very useful team player. His batting is more than decent and he can spin the ball. The slower bowlers have played a very crucial role in the past IPL’s and it must be due to the fact that the hot summer days of April-May beating down on the pitch and assisting the spin bowlers. Players like Ashwin, Botha, Vettori, Amit Mishra, Ojha, Harbhajan, Warne, Rahul Sharma and other spinners have done tremendously well in the summer. Hence, Ramesh Powar can be a good addition to the team. Chris Gayle is also a handy slow bowler but he tends to bowl on the legs of most right handed batsmen and can get hit, if he can change the line a little bit and bowl closer to the off stump, then he will be more successful. Also, we need to keep in mind that the final will be played in Chennai, a pitch that assists the team batting first and later starts turning prodigiously.

That’s all for now, I wish our team RCB all the very best and pray that luck will be on our side. Talking about luck, can someone make sure that Deepika Padukone does not make it to the stadium when RCB plays as they seem to lose more often than not when she shows up. She is a very beautiful woman and adds glamour to the IPL but whoever she associates with seems to bite the dust in terms of their success, for example Yuvraj and bad form, Ranbir and flop movies, and Sidhartha Mallya who is the latest entry and I am sure everyone knows about the turbulent times that Kingfisher airlines is facing. Anyways, I meant this as a joke and not to be taken seriously. Mr. Mallya has done a wonderful service to the great city of Bangalore by picking a good team to represent our city. Thanks to him and the U.B Group for backing team RCB. A big thank you to Ray Jennings, Anil Kumble, and Venky Prasad for playing a very crucial role in our team. I just hope they can come up with some innovative cricket and catch the other teams off-guard and beat the hell out of Chennai and Mumbai Indians.

Awesome post.Each and every statement is said correctly,even the jokes,P:
If Mr.Vijay Mallya would read it,I’m damn sure he’ll like this post very much.
I liked your suggestions very much.Keep posting such posts.Makes it happy for the readers(Talking everything apart from jokes).
Why public don’t comment on such good posts?

I bet this squad is best in all teams

we dont need to buy foriegners in auction indians are the best and we need indian bowler
vinay
jadeja all rounder
rp singh
ramesh powar
sreesanth
any 2 bowlers is enough

And yes i forgeo akhil too

he is a talented karnatakan players

my choice is vinay and rp and akhil

but i suggest tat kohli continue at 3…. instead pujara can open along wit gayle…. play d role wic kallis used to do…. i don how much v can get jadeja…. but if v get him play him at 7…in place of mayank..

Good one ... lack of seamers in rcb side made the side as ” One man show ” side in IPL .

STUNN - 23 January 2012 07:41 PM

Good one ... lack of seamers in rcb side made the side as ” One man show ” side in IPL .

I agree to your point dude.But it only applies for this season.

Really good post..Mallya should change the batting order for Rcb. But Pujara can’t be compared to Dravid or Kallis. Keep that in mind!!! If Kallis was in RCB, the history of RCB would have changed…But Gayle should not play atleast one match, then it will show the strength of the team…But I’m still mourning that RCB should choose Kevin O’Brien OR Brendon McCullum as foriegn players…and some Karnataka Bowlers…What do you say to me? Do you agree? Guys? Can you answer?

i agree with your team, but i wud play kohli at one down as he is best suited there, and mcdonald can open, he opens for big bash team, so its a gud option.

gayle
mcdonald/pujara (if pujara selected he shud open and mcdonald drops to aggrawal place)
kohli
AB
tiwari
aggrawal/karthick
vettori
zak
viany/rp/sreeshanth (anyone who is picked in auction)
arvind
appana/syed/powar (anyone if signed)

i think agarwal is the best choice as opener. if mcdonald open innings then our middle order will be weak.
  1)gayle
  2)agarwal
  3)kohli
  4)Ab
  5)Tiwari
  6)Mcdonald
  7)vettori
  8)Akhil
  9)vinay
10)zaheer
11)syed/arvind

aggrawal is a hitter, wen u hav gayle y simply aggarwal, moreover aggrawal can come down the oder wack two hits and relieve the pressure

Well said Oli…..Mayank can belt the ball and he does not need much time to settle down, bowl a couple of dot balls to him and he will step out and hit the third ball for a six. We need him in the middle order along with McDonald. Gayle is a one man army at the top of the batting order and he just needs someone who will rotate the strike and hence Pujara or Kohli should open with Gayle.

Dilshan can be used in the middle order if he is available and especially if RCB is playing on a turning pitch like Chennai. He did well in CLT20 for RCB and even bowled during the power plays.

Gayle
Dilshan
Vettori
McDonald
A.B.D-great wicket keeper batsmen
All the above mentioned players are all-rounders…..kudos to the RCB team selectors.

The team selection should depend on the strength of the opposition. For example, if the opposition team is Deccan Charges who have 4 world class bowlers in Steyn, Ishant, Amit Sharma, and Dan Christian, then Team RCB should be batsmen heavy. Our RCB has the best foreign players and we need support from the local boys. Saurav Tiwary needs time in the middle, he is a slow starter but once he gets his eye in, then heaven help the opposition bowlers. Mayank Agarwal is the kind of batsmen who can hit the second or third ball he is facing for a six or four and he can be handy in the lower middle order if the top order collapses. Our trump cards are Vettori and MacDonald because of their all round capabilities and our team has a great chance to win the IPL 5 competition if we can field our entire team.
If our top order i.e Gayle, Kohli, A.B.D bring us close to victory while chasing, then we should promote the lower middle order batsmen to complete the chase as this will ensure that everyone has match practice during the course of the tournament. The last two competitions Gayle and Kohli did most of the scoring and when they got out early, the other guys did not know how to go about scoring runs except for A.B.D. and Vettori.
As far as the bowling is concerned, statistics will prove that we have a weak bowling line-up. Zaheer and Vettori are the main bowlers and even if one of them gets injured or unavailable, then our team will be under some heavy pressure as the bowling bench strength is hapless. The main culprits in the last year have been Mithun, Arvind, and to some extent Nannes as he has been wayward. Mithun bowls no balls quite a bit and does not vary his pace. Arvind was fantastic in the last IPL but his performance in the CLT20 was horrible perhaps because Zak was not around to mentor him. Nannes has pace and bounce but he is a rhythm bowler and if it is not his day, then he tends to get smacked around.  There is one thing that our RCB bowling can do and that is to make sure they maintain discipline. If team RCB can bowl to their field and choke the batsmen, then it will be upto our fielders to back the team. T20 is all about momentum and the team that seizes the momentum at the right time also seizes the moment. I am very proud of our team and I wish they will thrash Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super kings this time around. I honestly wish and hope that we will be able to get some good players in the auction that will be held on Feb 4th. We should try and get R.P. Singh/Vinay Kumar/Sreesanth and if possible Romesh Powar/Parthiv Patel. If all things go well, then team RCB will be the best and most feared team in the IPL 5.
Gayle                  
Kohli                  
Pujara
A.B.D
Tiwary
Mayank Agarwal
Andrew MacDonald
Vettori
Syed Mohammad
Zaheer Khan
R.P. Singh
Bowlers will be as follows:
Zaheer Khan-4 overs
R.P. Singh-4 overs
Andrew MacDonald-3 overs
Vettori-4 overs
Syed Mohammad-3 overs
Gayle-2 overs

Inclusion of RP in the squad would help a lot

Gayle
Dilshan
Kohli
A.B.D
Saurav Tiwary
Pujara
Mayank Agarwal (he can score quick runs)
Syed Mohammad/Vitteori
Vinay Kumar
Zak
Charl Langeveldt /Sreeshanth/Mithun

There has been a lot of debate regarding the Feb 4th auction. Team RCB has $1.35 million approximately with which they can purchase some players. Honestly, team RCB has the best foreign players and it will be hard to accommodate new ones. Gayle, A..B, and Vettori will feature in most games if not all. The fourth spot will go to either Nannes/Dilshan/McDonald /Langeveldt/Pomersbach. The problem that we have had in the past has been with our middle-order batsmen and death overs bowling. The absence of Anil Kumble in the playing eleven is hurting our team, that is despite the fact that Vettori is doing a good job in the middle overs.  I just wish that RCB had chased after Amit Mishra in the 2011 auction instead of Pujara. The money spent on Saurav Tiwary and Pujara has not paid off really well (2.3 million for these two players combined). Saurav Tiwary may click in IPL 5 as per the law of averages, if he does not, then it must be because Mumbai Indians are paying him to play poorly for Team RCB (just joking).
If RCB can get R.P. Singh or Vinay along with Ramesh Powar on Feb 4th auction, then we can boast of having a complete team comprising of talented Indian as well foreign players. The playing eleven could be as follows:

Gayle
Kohli
Pujara
A.B.D
Saurav Tiwary
McDonald
Mayank Agarwal/Raju Bhatkal/Akhil
Vettori
Ramesh Powar/Appanna/Syed Mohammad
Zak
R.P. Singh/Vinay Kumar/Sreesanth

Most teams make sure that their top players get to face as many deliveries as possible, hence Gayle and Kohli should open. Mayank Agarwal can be considered for the opening slot but he is not very experienced against top class bowlers like Malinga, Alfonso Thomas, Ashwin, etc and Mayank should bat lower down the order as he is capable of hitting the long ball. Pujara should ideally play the role of the anchor in case the openers fail and the middle-order is exposed. This IPL is going to show the world the true class of A.B.DeVilliers, he has not been able to make a major impact because of Gayle and Kohli’s domination at the top. A.B along with Saurav Tiwary and McDonald can arrest a top order collapse. McDonald has a decent batting technique and someone who is capable of hitting big sixes once he gets his eye in. He can also be very handy with his right arm medium pace and should be given a place in the playing eleven keeping in mind that we have quite a few left arm bowlers. Mayank and Vettori can play the role of a floater, i.e someone who can be promoted up the batting order to increase the scoring rate. Vettori being a left-hander can be very valuable as the team will have a left-right handed batting combination to upset the line and rhythm of the opposition bowlers. Our RCB team should do everything it can do, to not depend too much on Gayle and Kohli. I just hope that Pujara will be able to play the role of Rahul Dravid or Kallis, he is a talented young man and should be backed by the team to perform his best.

The major issue that Team RCB is facing as of now is with its bowling department. If we can get one Indian medium pacer like the ones mentioned here-R.P. Singh/ Vinay Kumar/ Sreesanth along with Ramesh Powar, then we will have a pretty balanced team. I am not sure about Ramesh Powar’s fitness but we can most certainly use the services of an experienced off-spinner. Syed Mohammad is a very useful team player. His batting is more than decent and he can spin the ball. The slower bowlers have played a very crucial role in the past IPL’s and it must be due to the fact that the hot summer days of April-May beating down on the pitch and assisting the spin bowlers. Players like Ashwin, Botha, Vettori, Amit Mishra, Ojha, Harbhajan, Warne, Rahul Sharma and other spinners have done tremendously well in the summer. Hence, Ramesh Powar can be a good addition to the team. Chris Gayle is also a handy slow bowler but he tends to bowl on the legs of most right handed batsmen and can get hit, if he can change the line a little bit and bowl closer to the off stump, then he will be more successful. Also, we need to keep in mind that the final will be played in Chennai, a pitch that assists the team batting first and later starts turning prodigiously.

That’s all for now, I wish our team RCB all the very best and pray that luck will be on our side. Talking about luck, can someone make sure that Deepika Padukone does not make it to the stadium when RCB plays as they seem to lose more often than not when she shows up. She is a very beautiful woman and adds glamour to the IPL but whoever she associates with seems to bite the dust in terms of their success, for example Yuvraj and bad form, Ranbir and flop movies, and Sidhartha Mallya who is the latest entry and I am sure everyone knows about the turbulent times that Kingfisher airlines is facing. Anyways, I meant this as a joke and not to be taken seriously. Mr. Mallya has done a wonderful service to the great city of Bangalore by picking a good team to represent our city. Thanks to him and the U.B Group for backing team RCB. A big thank you to Ray Jennings, Anil Kumble, and Venky Prasad for playing a very crucial role in our team. I just hope they can come up with some innovative cricket and catch the other teams off-guard and beat the hell out of Chennai and Mumbai Indians.

a well balanced team