IPL 2022: Royal Challengers Bangalore – SWOT Analysis

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had retained three players before the mega auction in the form of Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, and Glenn Maxwell. They bought 12 Indians and seven overseas players in the two days of auction to complete their squad of 22 players including 14 Indians and eight foreign players. They bought both Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga for whopping 10.75 crores each. In this article, let us do a SWAT analysis on the RCB side.

Strength

For a change, it’s RCB’s bowling that looks their strength rather than their batting this time around. With Siraj already retained, they went for Australian pair of Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff and even bought back the highest wicket-taker of last IPL Harshal Patel. The spin department will be handled by Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed. With Siddharth Kaul and David Willey also around their bowling looks far better than the batting.

Weaknesses

Over the years RCB had a star-studded batting line-up. But after the mega auction 2022, it’s their batting that is looking weak. Not retaining Devdutt Padikkal who was their prolific run-scorer in the last two seasons and not buying him back was a huge surprise. Faf du Plessis, Kohli, and Maxwell have to do the bulk of the scoring for them. Dinesh Karthik may well finish games but runs at the back end of the innings is also a worrying factor.

Opportunities

Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror and Akash Deep are all below 28 years of age and are young. With good performances in the upcoming season, they can well cement their place for the long term in RCB. Lomror and Ahmed have played more games than the other two in the IPL as they will look to contribute towards their team with Kohli and du Plessis around them to nurture.

Threats

Last year Rajat Patidar batted at no. three for most of the matches for RCB as Mohammad Azharuddeen wasn’t given a chance. Later, Srikar Bharat occupied that spot and even won a thriller for them against DC. But with Kohli opening from the past few seasons, the no. three spot looks like a weak link now. One of the most crucial positions in cricket is the no. three which RCB needs to address. And also, the team again looks over-dependent on Kohli and Maxwell for most of the runs.