RCB to play 250th IPL game in Hyderabad, a glimpse into their journey so far

Virat Kohli (Pic: AFP)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be playing their 250th Indian Premier League game when they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. This completes a huge milestone of their journey, which has seen a lot of ups and downs and the creation of some of the biggest league superstars and a loyal fanbase, despite not clinching a title yet.

RCB is in desperate need of a win, having lost six successive games so far. They are at the bottom of the points table with a win and seven losses, giving them only two points. SRH is in the third spot with five wins and two losses, giving them ten points.

In 249 matches so far, RCB has won 117 and lost 128. Four games have ended with no results. Their win percentage is 46.18 per cent.

RCB has been a three-time IPL finalist in 2009, 2011 and 2016. However, they have not lifted the trophy even once, losing by six runs to Deccan Chargers in 2009, losing by 58 runs to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2011 edition and by eight runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2016.

Other than these finals, RCB has made it to the final four stage of the tournament five more times in 2010, 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Talismanic batter Virat Kohli is the franchise's leading run-scorer with 7,642 runs at an average of 38.01 and a strike rate of over 130, with eight centuries and 52 fifties. His best score is 113'. Virat has been with the franchise since IPL's inception in 2008.

Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who played for the franchise from 2014-21, is the leading wicket-taker for RCB, with 139 wickets in 113 matches. Mohammed Siraj is the current highest wicket-taker for the franchise among players still associated with the team, with 73 scalps in 80 games.

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Over the years, despite winning no IPL titles, RCB has managed to give fans a lot to remember. Be it the rescue acts and 360-degree hitting by South African legend AB de Villiers (4,491 runs in 156 matches at an average of 41.20 at a strike rate of over 158 with two centuries and 37 fifties), brute six-hitting by West Indies great Chris Gayle (3,163 runs in 85 matches at an average of 43.32, with a strike rate of over 152 with five centuries and 19 fifties), including his unbeaten 175' in 66 balls against Pune Warriors India back in 2013 and Virat Kohli's record-breaking season in 2016, in which he scored 973 runs at an average of above 81 and strike rate above 152 with four centuries and seven fifties and won the 'Orange Cap'.

By smashing 263 against PWI in 2013, the team till the start of this season held the record of highest total in IPL history, until Sunrisers Hyderabad broke it twice by registering totals of 277 and 287, the latter against RCB recently.

It also holds the record for the lowest IPL total, being bundled out for 49 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2017.

The dynamic trio of Kohli, De Villiers and Gayle brought to the franchise a lot of fandom in the 2010s. The legacy of this trio is now carried forward in 2020s by Kohli, Glenn (Maxwell) and Faf (Du Plessis), known as the 'KGF' among fans. Skipper Faf has scored 1,437 runs in 38 matches at an average of 39.91 and a strike rate of over 143 with 13 fifties, while Maxwell has made 1,246 runs in 48 matches at an average of 30.39 and a strike rate of over 158, with 12 fifties.

Other than these aforementioned stars, big players like Rahul Dravid, Mark Boucher, Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, Anil Kumble, KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga and Mitchell Starc, etc have worn the team's colours.

Ahead of the game, RCB all-rounder Will Jacks talked about his side's batting unit, which underperformed to an extent this season. Jacks said that the batters will look to play with the same freedom as their recent game, in which they valiantly scored 262 against SRH's 287 and 221 to KKR's 222.

"I think as a batting group, we may have lost the last two games but we scored 262 in a tough chase and then the other night 220 again. We know we've got the high scores in us. We have been playing with the freedom of chasing a high score. You know you have no option but to go after. We will be looking to continue that and play with the same freedom as if we were chasing a 220-plus score," he said.

(With agency inputs)