Aakash Chopra Picks His All-Time RCB XI

Aakash Chopra, the former Indian opener-turned commentator, recently picked his all-time RCB XI on his Youtube channel and the list is sure to rake in a lot of nostalgia for the ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde‘ loyalists. RCB may not have managed to win an Indian Premier League in their history but thanks to a constant influx of superstars in their set-up, they have always been one of the most talked-about teams in the competition.

From Kevin Pietersen, Rahul Dravid, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble to Ross Taylor, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, and of-course Virat Kohli, who has been with the franchise from the very outset, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have never been short of firepower.

The Virat Kohli-led franchise has made its way to the finals of the cash-rich league on three occasions- 2009, 2011, and 2016- but has missed out on the title on all three instances. The Bengaluru-based franchise made it to its first-ever final under the leadership of Anil Kumble in 2009 where it lost to the Adam Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers in what turned out to be a humdinger of a grand finale.

The next two final appearances came in 2011 and 2016 where the Men in Red lost to Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad under the leadership of Daniel Vettori and Virat Kohli.

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Virat Kohli leads Akash Chopra’s all-time RCB XI

Virat Kohli took over the leadership reigns from Daniel Vettori in 2013 but his record as captain has been far from impressing. Kohli has managed just 49 wins in the 110 games that he has led but Aakash Chopra has still picked him as the leader of his all-time RCB XI because of the Indin captain’s stellar record with the bat.  With 5412 runs in 177 matches, Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the history of the IPL. He has been placed as opener alongside ‘The Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, whose constant blitzkrieg was one of the reasons why RCB were so competitive between 2011-2016.

KL Rahul has been given the wicket-keeping duties while the middle-order is spearheaded by AB de Villiers, Ross Taylor, and Robin Uthappa. Aakash Chopra picked two leg-spinners in the form of Anil Kumble and Yuzvendra Chahal while his pace-bowling unit consists of the trio of Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan and Mitchell Starc. Interestingly, there is no Dale Steyn in Aakash Chopra’s all-time RCB XI.

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Aakash Chopra’s all-time RCB XI:

Virat Kohli (C), Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (WK), AB de Villiers, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Starc, Anil Kumble, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan

Watch the video here: