IPL CRICKET MATCH 2010 THRILLERS 10

A ROYAL CHALLENGE FOR

KUMBLE AND CO.

STRENGTHS: In season 1, their biggest problem was lack of home-grown talent but with the rise of young stars such as Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey with the bat and say Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar with the ball, that is no longer expected to be an issue. With the four foreigners rule in force, it is local talent that can make the difference. RCB score big there.

WEAKNESSES: What can go against them is the fact that the IPL is back in India. RCB wouldn't have minded another year at least in South Africa. For it was in South Africa that their bowling looked to have sting and their leading batsmen like Dravid and Kallis didn't have to adjust their games too much.

OPPORTUNITIES: Being more or less covered in terms of batting and pace bowling, both locally and as far as the foreigners go. An Indian spin partner for skipper Anil Kumble would have served to strengthen the team further.

THREATS: The pressure of expectation for sure. When Anil Kumble took over from Kevin Pictersen, the benchmark was as low as it could be. Now things are different and fans and team owner Vijay Mallya, will be expecting them to go all the way.

2008: 7th; 2009: Runners-up.