Cricket
How Many Times RCB Qualified For Playoffs?
One of the most renowned franchises in the Indian Premier League is yet to win the title even once. But their journey in the tournament’s seventeen years has been nothing short of eye-catching. Relive Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s successful seasons where they entered the playoffs and inched near the silverware.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's batter Virat Kohli//Getty Images
Few teams are known for their successful campaigns caving into title glory while few teams are popular for their brand value. Such is the story of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League, who are yet to win a title in seventeen years.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Bengaluru side lags in the race for brand or market value in the IPL. Boasted by some of the biggest names in cricket's annals, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru has gifted a plethora of moments into the hearts of cricket enthusiasts. From gargantuan totals to nerve-wracking super overs, the Vijay Mallya-owned franchise is one of the distinguished teams in the IPL that breathes life into the hearts of several fans.
Renowned cricketing personalities such as Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, etc have entertained their loyal fans for years. Their hard-fought endeavors have led the team to eight playoff qualifications with three final appearances. Although the side is among the three oldest franchises to live with a title drought, their playoff journey in several editions has been memorable and etched in the hearts of cricket lovers.
In this SportsBoom piece, we shall delve into Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s best seasons in the IPL where they managed to get past the league stages and made playoff appearances.
RCB's Performance over the years
In IPL
| Season (No. of Teams) | Captain | Position |
| 2008 (8) | RAHUL DRAVID | 7th |
| 2009 (8) | KEVIN PIETERSEN, ANIL KUMBLE | Runner-up |
| 2010 (8) | ANIL KUMBLE | 3rd |
| 2011 (10) | DANIEL VETTORI, VIRAT KOHLI | Runner-up |
| 2012 (9) | DANIEL VETTORI | 5th |
| 2013 (9) | VIRAT KOHLI | 5th |
| 2014 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | 7th |
| 2015 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | Play-offs |
| 2016 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | Runner-up |
| 2017 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI, SHANE WATSON | 8th |
| 2018 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | 6th |
| 2019 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | 8th |
| 2020 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | Play-offs |
| 2021 (8) | VIRAT KOHLI | Play-offs |
| 2022 (10) | FAF DU PLESSIS | Play-offs |
| 2023 (10) | FAF DU PLESSIS, VIRAT KOHLI | 6th |
| 2024 (10) | FAF DU PLESSIS | Playoffs |
2009: Runner up, Captains: Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble
After a poor start in the league in the inaugural season where the team finished 7th, Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a good comeback finishing as the runner-ups in the 2nd season held in South Africa. The team signed England batter Kevin Pietersen for USD 1.55 million, making him the joint highest-paid player in the league, and appointed him the skipper.
He led the team in the first seven games of which the Bengaluru side won 3 before being ruled out of the tournament. Former India Test captain Anil Kumble then took over the reins and took the team to the semis with 5 wins in the remaining 7 league matches. The team defeated Chennai Super Kings in the semifinals but lost to Deccan Chargers in the final despite Kumble taking 4/16 with the ball.
2010: 3rd Place, Captain: Anil Kumble
Kumble was retained as skipper in the next season, and 21-year-old Virat Kohli was appointed vice-captain. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won 7 of their 14 league matches and, with 14 points on the table, were tied with Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, and Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Chennai Super Kings had a better net run rate and entered the playoffs taking the number 3 spot on the table. Royal Challengers Bengaluru outdid Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders on net run rate and entered as the fourth team. In the semifinal, they lost to Mumbai Indians by 35 runs and defeated Deccan Chargers to finish third. Skipper Kumble picked up 4/16 in his last-ever IPL game.
2011: Runner up, Captains: Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru only retained Virat Kohli despite 5 players being allowed per team. With the tournament expanding to 10 teams, the franchise announced Daniel Vettori as their skipper. They signed Saurabh Tiwary for a whopping USD 1.6 million and had to replace injured fast bowler Dirk Nannes mid-season with hard-hitting opener Chris Gayle, who finished as their leading run-getter with 608 runs that year.
Kohli captained the team in three matches, with Vettori missing out due to a knee injury. The team topped the group stage and reached the qualifiers. After losing to Chennai Super Kings they had another opportunity to make the finals by playing Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won that game by 43 runs and proceeded to the finals, losing out to the Super Kings by 58 runs.
2015: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting triumvirate of Kohli, Gayle, and AB de Villiers was magnificent in the eighth season of IPL. After failing to make the playoffs for three seasons straight, the team finished third in the points table winning 7 games out of 14 under Kohli’s leadership.
In their away fixture against Mumbai Indians, Kohli and de Villiers added 215 unbeaten runs for the 2nd wicket with the Proteas batter hitting an unbeaten 133. It was the biggest-ever partnership for any wicket in T20 cricket. In the eliminator, they defeated Rajasthan Royals by 71 runs but lost to the Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier by 3 wickets.
2016: Runner-up, Captain: Virat Kohli
The team flourished under Kohli’s captaincy and made the playoffs yet again. The skipper led by example, scoring an astonishing 973 runs with 4 centuries to his name. Allrounder Shane Watson and legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal both picked up 20 wickets, helping Bengaluru win 8 out of 14 games in the league stage. Kohli and de Villiers repeated history, adding 229 runs for the second wicket against Gujarat Lions, overhauling their record made the previous year.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won four back-to-back matches and their fifth consecutive match in the qualifier, jumping straight to the finals, where they were heartbroken by an 8-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2020: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
After suffering a big slump in performances after 2016 when the team finished at the bottom of the table twice, the Kohli-led team made a comeback in the 14th edition of the league which was played in the UAE inside a COVID bio bubble.
The campaign started with a 10-wicket win versus the Sunrisers Hyderabad, a 97-run loss against Kings XI Punjab, and then a tie with Mumbai Indians that Royal Challengers Bengaluru won in the super over. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won half of their games in the league stage and lost their last 4 games yet managing a spot in the eliminator thanks to a higher net run rate than Kolkata Knight Riders.
Playing against Hyderabad in the eliminator, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored a modest 131/7 which was chased down in the final with 6 wickets in hand.
2021: Play-offs, Captain: Virat Kohli
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru signed Australian allrounder Glenn Maxwell for a whopping INR 14.25 crore in the auction, a move that proved brilliant for the side as Maxwell finished as the leading run scorer for them with 513 runs in 14 innings. The team started in some fashion winning the first 4 games on the trot but then lost 4 of their next 5 games and squared off the league phase winning 4 of their last 5 matches finishing the stage at number 3 in the points table.
The eliminator against the Knight Riders was almost a repeat of the previous edition’s eliminator game against the Sunrisers. Royal Challengers Bengaluru batted first and scored 138/7 with the Knights chasing the target by 6 wickets and 2 deliveries to spare. This was also AB de Villiers’ final IPL game who scored 4491 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 144 innings across 11 seasons.
2022: Plays offs, Captain: Faf du Plessis
The 10-team IPL was back with the teams divided into 2 virtual groups. Royal Challengers Bengaluru made some changes in the personnel with taking over the captaincy from Virat Kohli who also was free of the role from the national side. The tournament was limited to only 5 cities with the league phase completely played in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune.
Royal Challengers Bengalurustarted with a loss, 3 consecutive wins, and then another defeat. In a league phase of mixed results, they ended up with 16 points on the table confirming qualification as the number 4 team.
In a high-scoring eliminator, Rajat Patidar (112*) became the 1st uncapped player to score a hundred in an IPL playoff leading the team to a 14-run win. Patidar top scored in the qualifier as well but 157/8 wasn’t a big enough total for Rajasthan Royals who cruised to the total by 7 wickets and ended as the runners-up.
2024: Playoffs, Captain Faf du Plessis
This was one such edition where Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s qualification chances were hanging by a thread until the last couple of days in the league stages. Despite kicking off the curtain raiser against the Chennai Super Kings with a six-wicket defeat, they bounced back against an underwhelming Punjab Kings, thanks to their lower-middle order and pacers. However, the side incurred six straight losses from hereon, with the points table reflecting one win in eight games.
With six matches to follow, the du Plessis-led unit was in a precarious position where every match was a do-or-die situation for them. This demanded the management to make some tough calls like dropping Glenn Maxwell from the playing XI and offering Will Jacks an extended opportunity. They also trusted Swapnil Singh to deliver with his left-arm orthodox spin against heavy-batting sides.
The minute tweaks paid dividends for Bengaluru as they found momentum after beating the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their backyard. Soon, they went on to win five straight games before facing the Chennai Super Kings in what could be labeled as a virtual quarter-final.
Amidst false speculation of MS Dhoni’s last match, the Bengaluru posted a massive 218 runs on the board despite losing the toss, thanks to the top four who did the bulk of run-scoring. In reply, the Super Kings lost early wickets in the form of in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell before Rachin Ravindra’s 61 and Ajinkya Rahane’s 33 kept them in the hunt. However, the hosts lost momentum in the middle overs phase with their middle order failing to assist Ravindra Jadeja. Eventually, they succumbed to a 27-run loss, witnessing Royal Challengers Bengaluru enforce an unthinkable winning streak in adverse situations and sealing the playoff spot.
What could’ve been a fairytale run for the franchise turned into a nightmare on May 22 when the Royal Challengers Bengaluru faltered against the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator. Put in to bat first, they got off to a shaky start with thirties from Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Mahipal Lomror propelling them to 172/8 in 20 overs. Although the Bengaluru bowlers complimented to the best of their capability, the Royals, achieved the below-par target by the 19th over cameos from Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell acting as the icing on the cake.
How Many Times RCB Qualified For Final
2009 IPL vs Deccan Chargers
Royal Challengers Bengaluru had a good second season after a false start in 2008 and after Kevin Pietersen injured himself, Anil Kumble took over the captaincy for the rest of the season and led the team to the finals where they had Deccan Chargers for company.
Kumble won the toss and elected to bowl first in Johannesburg. The skipper bowled a beautiful spell of 4/16 to restrict Delhi Capitals to 143/6. Herschelle Gibbs was the top scorer with 53 in 48 balls. In response, Roelof van der Merwe batting at 3, played an attacking knock of 32 in 21 deliveries but didn’t have enough backing as Pragyan Ojha (3/28) led an assault with Harmeet Singh and Andrew Symonds taking a couple of wickets each restricting Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 137/9 in their 20 overs and winning their first and only title.
2011 IPL vs Chennai Super Kings
Two years later Royal Challengers Bengaluru reached the final once again and faced a strong Chennai Super Kings side who won the toss and decided to bat first scoring a mammoth 205/5 with opener Murali Vijay top scoring with 95 and sharing a 159-run opening stand with Michael Hussey (63).
Chris Gayle starred with the ball (2/34) with Sreenath Aravind taking 2 wickets as well but the Jamaican maestro failed to open his account with the bat in hand on the big occasion as Royal Challengers Bengaluru slumped to 147/8 in their 20 overs. Saurabh Tiwary top-scored with an unbeaten 42. R Ashwin picked 3/16 with left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati taking 2 wickets for 21 runs to win Chennai Super Kings their second title.
2016 IPL vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
So close yet so far for Royal Challengers Bengaluru again. Playing their third final, the Bengaluru team were asked to chase by Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner who scored 69 in 38 balls to put 208/7 on the board, the highest ever in an IPL final. He was helped by some healthy contributions lower in the order from Ben Cutting (39* off 15) and Yuvraj Singh (38 off 23).
Chris Jordan picked up 3 wickets but conceded 45 runs in his spell, Sreenath Aravind bowled economically and picked up 2 wickets. Openers Chris Gayle (76 off 38) and Kohli (54 off 35) added 114 for the first wicket in 63 balls but the middle order failed to carry on the momentum. With 19 runs needed in the final over and 4 wickets in hand, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, and Iqbal Abdulla could score only 9 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and lost the game by 8 runs.
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