The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are one of the most popular teams in IPL history. No matter what, they always manage to grab the headlines. Another noteworthy fact is that they have a very loyal fanbase that keeps supporting them irrespective of their performances. Despite not winning the title even once, the Bangalore franchise has ensured the kind of records they have created.
Over the years, they have had several world-class batsmen who have represented them. Chris Gayle, AB De Villiers, Shane Watson, KL Rahul, Kevin Pietersen, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and their current captain Virat Kohli, you name it! This has led to them breaking several batting records and disposing of balls outside the park. Thus, bowling against them isn’t easy.
However, which are those bowlers who have had a good record against RCB?
This article will be looking at the top 5 bowlers who have picked the most wickets against RCB.
#5 Jasprit Bumrah (21 Wickets)
Jasprit Bumrah is unarguably the greatest Indian pacer in the history of T20 cricket. There aren’t too many bowlers who have a better record than him in the game’s shortest format. Astonishingly, he has achieved so much in his career. Thus, he is fifth on the list of the most wickets picked against RCB in IPL history. The MI pacer has picked as many as 21 wickets in just the 16 games.
He happens to be one of the few bowlers who keep the RCB batters in check. His bowling average and strike rate against them are 22.09 and 17.7. Despite bowling at the death, he has an economy rate of just 7.45 against the Bangalore franchise. It won’t be surprising if he adds more to his tally soon.
#4 Ravindra Jadeja (23 Wickets)
Another bowler with 23 wickets against RCB, Ravindra Jadeja, again is tied with Sandeep Sharma and Ashish Nehra when it comes to their number of wickets against RCB in their IPL career. It gets better when you realize that, unlike the others, Jadeja is an all-rounder and has the extra responsibility to bat as well. Yet, his name features in this list.
Even in his most recent game against RCB in the first phase of IPL 2021, he nearly dismantled them all by himself. The southpaw has a bowling average and strike rate of 22.30 and 19.0, respectively. His economy rate against RCB is 7.02 in the 23 innings against them.
#3 Sandeep Sharma ( 23 Wickets)
Sandeep Sharma is one of the most underrated bowlers in IPL history. His numbers in the Indian T20 league are as good as they can get. His record against stalwarts such as Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle (Who used to represent RCB for 7 seasons) is commendable. This is probably one of the reasons why he features in this list.
The SRH pacer has picked the third most number of wickets against RCB. He is tied with Ashish Nehra and has picked the same number of wickets against RCB. Having just played the 15 games against RCB, one can expect him to soon pick more wickets against Kohli’s side. His bowling average and strike rate against the franchise are 18.21 and 14.5, respectively. His economic rate against them is on the lower side as well (7.50).
#2 Ashish Nehra ( 23 Wickets)
Ashish Nehra has been one of the greatest Indian pacers in the shortest format of the game. Although he improved as a T20 bowler post-2015, he was always superb against RCB since the inception of the Indian T20 league. Thus, he is second on the list of the highest number of wickets picked against RCB by an individual bowler in IPL history.
He has picked as many as 23 wickets in just 14 innings. His bowling average and strike rate against RCB are 18.0 and 13.6, respectively. His economy rate is also below 8 (7.91), which is good in this format. What makes it even more interesting is that Nehra has featured for RCB in the past as well!
#1 Harbhajan Singh (27 Wickets)
Harbhajan Singh has been one of India’s greatest spinners. He has already achieved a lot in his career and is still active in the IPL. However, he has a superb record against the Bangalore franchise and has always picked wickets against them more often than not. The Turbanator has picked the most number of wickets against RCB, and he has picked as many as 27 wickets in the 25 innings.
His bowling average and strike rate against RCB are 24.22 and 20.0, respectively. He has a miserly economy rate of 7.26 against them as well. If one goes to see, whichever team he has played for has always been able to get the better of RCB. Be it MI or CSK. Thus, he is superb when it comes to performing against RCB.
