(Cricket news) RCB made it to the qualifier 2 last season but this season they will be looking to go a step further. Faf du Plessis will once again lead the side as they have somewhat the same squad. Will Jacks was ruled out of the tournament a couple of weeks ago and Micheal Bracewell was named as the replacement. Josh Hazlewood is still not fit and he is likely to miss the first half of the tournament at least but there is no clarity. It remains to be seen if RCB name a replacement or wait for Hazelwood to become available.

RCB ideal playing XI –

Openers: Faf du Plessis & Virat Kohli

Faf du Plessis is coming into the tournament after a very successful SA20 season. Virat Kohli played one down for majority of the tournament last season but now it is pretty clear that opening is his best position. The pair have a lot of responsibility and one of them has to anchor the innings.

Middle order: Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell & Dinesh Karthik

Rajat Patidar went unsold last season but was later roped in as a replacement and since then he hasn’t looked back. He scored an incredible century in last year’s eliminator against LSG. He has had an incredible domestic season and also got an India call-up. Glenn Maxwell has a very important role to play with both bat and ball. He hasn’t played much cricket leading up to the IPL due to an injury but RCB will have a lot of expectations from him. Dinesh Karthik’s incredible performance last season with RCB earned him a comeback into the Indian team. This season he will play the same role of the finisher. 

All-rounders: Shahbaz Ahmed & Mahipal Lomror

Since last season Shahbaz Ahmed has made his India debut and been a part of the ODI squad on a couple of occasions. Now he will be looking to have a bigger impact this IPL with both bat and ball. Mahipal Lomror is also a left hand batter and left arm spinner just like Shahbaz.  

Spinner: Wanindu Hasaranga

Last year’s purple cap winner will join the squad later as he has national duty at the beginning. In his absence the in-form Micheal Bracewell will take his place. However after returning he will surely walk into this RCB team without hesitation. This year he will be looking for a better impact with the willow.

Seamers: Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj & Reece Topley

Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj pretty much pick themselves. Harshal had a torrid international period since the last IPL after which he was dropped from the team in the T20 World Cup and eventually exiled from the squad. Now he has a point to prove in this tournament to try and stage a comeback. Siraj on the other hand has become an all format bowler for India and will be looking to perform at RCB. Reece Topley is the obvious like for like replacement for Hazelwood. However RCB could choose an Indian seamer to fit in a Finn Allen or Micheal Bracewell in the batting line-up.

Bench: Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep, Himanshu Sharma, Micheal Bracewell, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav

Also read: Mumbai Indians ideal playing XI for IPL 2023