The Women’s Premier League has concluded with the Mumbai Indians being crowned as the first-ever champions. As the excitement dies down, cricket enthusiasts are gearing up for the Indian Premier League 2023, which is all set to kick off on March 31st with the opening match scheduled to be played between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore have hit a stumbling block ahead of the IPL 2023 season as some of their key players have been plagued by injuries. Will Jacks has been forced to pull out of the tournament due to injury, with Michael Bracewell taking his place. Furthermore, there are uncertainties surrounding the availability of Josh Hazlewood, their top pacer, due to injury woes.
Adding to their woes, their top performer from last year, Rajat Patidar, is expected to be out of action for the first half of the tournament due to an injury he’s still recuperating from. Despite the injury setbacks, we’ve made the best of what we have and created a strong lineup for the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the IPL 2023 season. Here’s a look at the squad:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Strongest Playing XI for IPL 2023
- Openers: Faf du Plessis (C), Anuj Rawat
- Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik
- Bowlers: Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj
Analysis
The absence of Josh Hazlewood means that Reece Topley or David Willey will need to step up to fill the void in the pace attack. Based on his standout performance in the SA20 tournament, Topley appears to be the preferred option over Willey.
With Rajat Patidar out of the tournament for half of the season, Virat Kohli will likely move back to his number three spot, and either Anuj Rawat or Mahipal Lomror will partner with Faf du Plessis at the opening slot.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Squad for IPL 2023
Faf du Plessis (Captain), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudesai, Karn Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell
