One of the most adored teams of cricket of the Indian Premier League (IPL) The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has seen many famous players play for the team throughout the years. However, they haven’t been able to take home a trophy over the sixteen years of their existence, despite being close at times. In the 16 years that RCB has been in existence, RCB has been able to qualify for the playoffs or the top four spots eight times.
Here we review the team’s performance over the years.
| Year | PLD | W | L | T | W % |
| 2008 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 28.57% |
| 2009 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 56.25% |
| 2010 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 50% |
| 2011 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 62.5% |
| 2012 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 50% |
| 2013 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 50% |
| 2014 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 35.71% |
| 2015 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 50% |
| 2016 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 56.25% |
| 2017 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 23.08% |
| 2018 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.86% |
| 2019 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 35.71% |
| 2020 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 40% |
| 2021 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 60% |
| 2022 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 56.25% |
| 2023 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 50% |
2009: Runner up, Captains: Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble
After a shaky start in the league during the inaugural season in which the team finished seventh, RCB had a great comeback finishing second in the second season in South Africa. The club was signed by England batter Kevin Pietersen for USD 1.55 million making him the second most-paid player of the league. The team also named him the captain.
He was the captain in the first seven games, of which RCB took 3 wins before being disqualified from the tournament. The former India Test captain Anil Kumble then took over the helm and led his team to the semifinals, with five wins in the remaining seven league games. The team beat Chennai Super Kings in the semifinals but were defeated by Deccan Chargers in the final despite Kumble winning 4/16 with the ball.
2010: 3rd Place, Captain: Anil Kumble
Kumble was kept as the skipper for the following season and 21-year-old Virat Kohli was named vice-captain. RCB won seven of 14 league games and, with 14 points in the table were in a tie with CSK, Delhi Daredevils, and Kolkata Knight Riders.
CSK had a higher net run rate. They made it into the playoffs with the 3rd position on the table. RCB beat DD and KKR on net run rates and was entered as the fourth team. In the semifinals, they were defeated by Mumbai Indians by 35 runs and then beat Deccan Chargers to finish 3rd. Skipper Kumble scored 4/16 in his final IPL game.
2011: Runner up, Captains: Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli
RCB only kept Virat Kohli despite five players allowed per team, with the tournament growing to 10 teams. The team also announced Daniel Vettori as their skipper. The club signed Saurabh Tiwary for USD 1.6 million and replaced fast bowler Dirk Nannes mid-season with hard-hitting opener Chris Gayle who finished as their top run-scorer, scoring 608 runs in the year.
Kohli played as captain in three matches, with Vettori not playing due to knee injuries. The team won the group stage and made it to the qualifiers. After losing to CSK and CSK, they had a chance to reach the finals when they played Mumbai Indians in the 2nd qualifier. RCB defeated Mumbai Indians by 43 runs before going to the finals, losing to CSK by 58 runs.
2015: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
The RCB cricket trio comprising Kohli, Gayle, and AB de Villiers was magnificent in the eighth season of the IPL. After not making the playoffs for the past three seasons the team came in third in the table of points, winning seven games from 14 under Kohli’s guidance.
In their away game against MI, Kohli and de Villiers added 215 unbeaten scores in the second wicket, with the Proteas batter registering an unbeaten 133. It was the most powerful partnership ever on any wicket in T20 cricket. In the elimination match, they defeated Rajasthan Royals by 71 runs but they lost to CSK during the second qualifying match by three wickets.
2016: Runner-up, Captain: Virat Kohli
The team performed well under Kohli’s captaincy and reached the playoffs for the second time. Kohli was a shining example, with an impressive 973 runs, with four centuries to his credit. Allrounder Shane Watson and leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal each took 20 wickets in helping RCB beat 8 of 14 games at the league stage. Kohli and de Villiers repeated history adding 229 runs for the second wicket in the match against Gujarat Lions, overhauling their record from last year.
RCB won back-to-back matches in four consecutive games and also won their 5th consecutive game in the qualifying match, jumping straight to the finals, but were devastated by an eight-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2020: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
After suffering a massive drop in performance after 2016, when the team was in the bottom of the league twice the Kohli-led team staged an appearance during the 14th edition of the league held in the UAE in the COVID-19 bubble.
The campaign began with a 10-wicket win against SRH after which they suffered a 97-run loss against Kings XI Punjab, and the final game was a tie with Mumbai Indians that RCB won in the super over. RCB was able to win half their games during the league stage but lost their final four games, yet they managed to earn a spot in the finals because of the higher net run rate than KKR.
In the match with SRH in the elimination match, RCB scored a modest 131/7 and was beaten in the final match with six wickets remaining.
2021: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
RCB signed Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for a whopping INR 14.25 crore during the auction. The move was a huge success for the team as Maxwell was the top scorer of runs for them, scoring 513 runs over 14 innings. The team began in a positive manner winning the first four games in succession, but they lost four of their next five games. They then entered the league phase by winning four of their last five matches, finishing the stage third in the point table.
The final against KKR was a rerun of the previous elimination game played against SRH. RCB began the game with bat and scored 138/7, KKR trying to catch the target with 6 wickets and two deliveries left. This was AB de Villiers’ final IPL game, scoring 4491 runs for RCB in 144 innings over 11 seasons.
2022: Plays offs, Captain: Faf du Plessis
The 10-team IPL returned with teams split into two virtual groups. RCB made a few changes in the squad including Faf du Plessis taking over the captaincy from Virat Kohli, who was released from the national team. The tournament was restricted to five cities with the league portion being held in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune.
RCB started with losing, followed by three consecutive wins, and then a loss. In a league stage of uneven results, they finished with 16 points in the table, confirming their status as the fourth team.
In a high-scoring elimination, Rajat Patidar (112*) became the first player without a cap to reach a hundred runs in an IPL playoff, guiding the team to a 14-run victory. Patidar was the top scorer in the qualifier, too but 157/8 wasn’t a huge enough score for Rajasthan Royals who cruised to the total with seven wickets and finished as runners-up.
How Many Times RCB Qualified For Final
2009 IPL vs Deccan Chargers
RCB enjoyed a successful second season following a poor start in 2008 and following Kevin Pietersen injured himself, Anil Kumble assumed the captaincy for the remainder of the season. He also took the team to the semi-finals, where they were joined by Deccan Chargers for company.
Kumble was the winner of the toss and decided to bowl the first ball in Johannesburg. Kumble bowled a stunning time of 4/16 to reduce DC to 143/6. Herschelle Gibbs was the top scorer, scoring 53 runs in 48 balls. In response, Roelof van Der Merwe, who was batting at 3 was able to score an attacking performance of 32 in just 21 balls but didn’t have enough support. Pragyan Ojha (3/28) led the charge, including Harmeet Singh and Andrew Symonds taking a couple of wickets each, restricting RCB to 137/9 over 20 overs, and claiming their first trophy.
2011 IPL vs Chennai Super Kings
Then, two years later RCB reached the final again and had to face a strong Chennai Super Kings side who won the toss, and decided to bat first, scoring the colossal 205/5, opening Murali Vijay top scoring with 95 and also sharing the opening stand of 159 runs with Michael Hussey (63).
Chris Gayle starred with the ball (2/34) with Sreenath Aravind picking up two wickets too, but the Jamaican maestro was unable to start his account with a bat at the big event as RCB fell to 147/8 after 20 overs. Saurabh Tiwary topped the scoring by scoring an unbeaten 42. R Ashwin picked 3/16 with left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati grabbing 2 wickets with 21 runs, bringing CSK their second title.
2016 IPL vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
So close, yet it’s been a long way in the past for RCB again. They were playing their third final. RCB was tasked with chasing by Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner who scored 69 runs in 38 balls to score 208/7 the highest score ever recorded at an IPL final. Warner was assisted by good performances lower in the top order by Ben Cutting (39* off 15) and Yuvraj Singh (38 off 23).
Chris Jordan picked up 3 wickets, but the team conceded 45 runs during his innings. Sreenath Aravind was economical and picked up two wickets. Opening players Chris Gayle (76 off 38) and Kohli (54 off 35) added 114 runs for the first wicket after 63 balls, but the middle order could not maintain the momentum. With 19 runs required for the final over and four wickets remaining, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, and Iqbal Abdulla managed to only score 9 runs against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and ended the game with 8 runs.
How Many Matches RCB Won
The Royal Challengers Bangalore has played 242 games in the 16 seasons of the Indian Premier League winning 114 of them, but losing 120 games, with three games tied and five games that ended without a result. The team boasts a win rate of 47.11. KKR, CSK, and MI have won more matches than RCB in the tournament’s history.
Despite having a decent position on the charts of winners, RCB has failed to win a single championship and has finished third on three occasions. The 2011 season was by far the most successful year for the team, where they took home 10 games, which is the most in a single season for RCB to date.
