RCB toil hard during their first intra-squad practice match ahead of IPL 2021

Less than a week before the commencement of IPL 2021, the Royal Challengers Bangalore players conducted their first intra-squad practice match at Chennai's Center for Sports Science (CSS) on Sunday. RCB will be kickstarting their campaign when they lock horns with the defending champions Mumbai Indians next Friday.

RCB players sweat it out during the first practice session

The Bangalore players decided to make the most of their first practice session in order to get into the groove ahead of the season opener. 12 players were available for participation that included the likes of leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, pacers Navdeep Saini as well as Mohammed Siraj, and, Gujarat batsman Rajat Patidar. 

Patidar, who is RCB's newest recruit made an impact with the bat, as he scored 54 off just 35 deliveries and helped his team post a score of 153. Saini (3/40), and, Chahal (2/20) were the star performers with the ball in hand. However, what had really stood out here is that it was Harshal Patel who impressed one and all with his brilliant all-round performance. He first made the ball talk with a couple of wickets before playing a quickfire cameo with the bat to take his team past the finish line with more than two overs to spare for which he was adjudged the Man of the Match award.

RCB in IPL 2021

The dark horses will be hoping to make IPL 2021 a memorable one by finally laying their hands on the elusive silverware that has eluded them since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. RCB had made it to the finals thrice (2009,2011, & 2016) editions respectively only to finish as the second-best side on all three occasions. 

The Virat Kohli-led side had put up a good show in 2020 as a result of which they made it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 edition by finishing fourth in the league stages. 

AB de Villiers scored a valiant half-century (56) in the Eliminator against southern rivals as well as former champions Hyderabad. He hardly received any support from the other end as Bangalore were restricted to 131/7 in their 20 overs. 

In the end, it was just not enough as the Orange Army got past the finish line in the final over by six wickets as the three-time finalists were knocked out of the competition.