49 Fun Facts About Royal Challengers Bengaluru

What does the Kannada RCB fan chant 'Ee Sala Cup Namde', popular since about 2016, mean?

This time the cup is ours was shouted every season until 2025, when RCB fans finally switched to the triumphant variant Ee Sala Cup Namdu.

After the 2025 IPL's suspension, RCB's title-winning final was moved from Kolkata to which city?

Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium hosted the final on 3 June 2025, nine days late, after the India-Pakistan crisis halted the league for a week in May and the schedule was redrawn.

Which team lost the 2026 final to RCB, making Bengaluru the third franchise to retain the IPL title?

Gujarat Titans had lost Qualifier 1 to RCB by 92 runs five days earlier, fought back through Qualifier 2, then made only 155 for 8 and were beaten again with two overs to spare.

Which conglomerate became RCB's owner through a March 2026 consortium deal worth a record $1.78 billion?

Aditya Birla Group joined the Times Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone in buying both the men's and women's teams, ending eighteen years of ownership by drinks companies.

Whose $111.6 million bid, second-highest at the 2008 auction, bought the Bangalore IPL franchise?

Vijay Mallya was outbid only by the $111.9 million paid for Mumbai; financial scandals later cost him the chairmanship, and he left India in 2016 with banks pursuing his companies' debts.

RCB's name and roaring-lion crest come from Royal Challenge, a United Spirits brand of which drink?

Whisky brand Royal Challenge won out over stablemate McDowell's No.1 as the team's namesake, and the crown-and-lion emblem was lifted straight from its label.

Which West Indian's 175 not out for RCB in 2013 set the record for a T20 innings?

Chris Gayle needed only 30 balls for his century that night and finished on 175 off 66, then took 2 for 5 in his single over.

Which team bowled RCB out for a record-low 49 in 2017?

Kolkata Knight Riders had made only 131 themselves, yet Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme took three wickets each as RCB's batting collapsed.

RCB's Chinnaswamy Stadium home was billed as the world's first cricket ground to do what, in 2015?

Run on rooftop solar power: a 400 kW plant went onto the stadium roof in about 50 days in 2015, wired so that any power the ground does not use can be sold to the city grid.

Which RCB captain joined MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in 2026 as a winner of back-to-back IPL titles?

Rajat Patidar went unsold at the 2022 auction and rejoined RCB only as a mid-season replacement, then hit an unbeaten 112 in that year's Eliminator.

Which South African nicknamed Mr. 360 spent eleven seasons with RCB before retiring in 2021?

AB de Villiers scored 4,491 runs for RCB without ever lifting the trophy: the team's first title came in 2025, four seasons after his last.

Which former international cricketer was RCB's head coach for the 2025 and 2026 title-winning seasons?

Andy Flower ended his Zimbabwe career by wearing a black armband at the 2003 World Cup to mourn 'the death of democracy' at home; he reached RCB for 2024 after two seasons with Lucknow.

Which team beat RCB by eight runs in the 2016 final at the Chinnaswamy, RCB's own home ground?

Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 208 for 7, and RCB's openers raced to 114 without loss in under eleven overs before the chase stalled at 200 for 7.

Which team, only fourth in the league, beat RCB in the 2009 final at Johannesburg's Wanderers?

Deccan Chargers had finished bottom of the first IPL a year earlier, then defended just 143 for 6 under Adam Gilchrist to win by six runs.

Which RCB captain's 4 for 16 in the 2009 final earned Player of the Match despite defeat?

Anil Kumble had taken over the captaincy only mid-season, then steered RCB from a poor start to third in the league and into the final.

Which England batter, a record $1.55 million signing, captained RCB at the start of 2009?

Kevin Pietersen handed over the captaincy when England called him away after a string of early losses, and the team promptly went to the final.

Which New Zealander captained RCB in the 2011 final and later coached the team from 2014 to 2018?

Daniel Vettori became RCB's head coach in 2014 while still a New Zealand player, a year before he retired after the 2015 World Cup.

Which Karnataka great captained RCB in 2008 as the franchise's designated icon player?

Rahul Dravid was the only RCB batter past 300 runs in that seventh-place 2008 season, and the owner later blamed him publicly for the auction picks.

Since 2011 RCB has swapped its red shirts for which colour for one match each season?

Green replaces the red for one match a season in a kit made from recycled fabric, part of a sustainability drive RCB has run since 2011.

Which batter became the first Indian to score an IPL century, for RCB in South Africa in May 2009?

Manish Pandey, 19 and on Mumbai's books a year earlier, hit an unbeaten 114 off 73 balls in RCB's last league game, a 12-run win two days before their semi-final.

Which RCB seamer's 32 wickets in 2021 won the Purple Cap and equalled the record for an IPL season?

Harshal Patel's haul was the most ever by an Indian in one season, even though Ravindra Jadeja took 37 off a single over of his that year.

Which leg-spinner, signed for his ₹10 lakh base price in 2014, led RCB's wicket charts in 2019 and 2020?

Yuzvendra Chahal took 18 wickets in 2019 and 21 in 2020 for RCB; before cricket claimed him he had represented India internationally at chess.

Which RCB seamer bowled the IPL's first back-to-back maiden overs in one match, in October 2020?

Mohammed Siraj finished with 3 for 8 from four overs as the opposition limped to 84 for 8, a target RCB knocked off with eight wickets in hand.

Which Australian left-armer's two RCB seasons, 2014–15, preceded a record ₹24.75 crore sale at the auction for 2024?

Mitchell Starc then stayed away from the IPL for eight seasons, returning only when that bid made him the costliest buy in auction history.

Whom did RCB buy for ₹14 crore at the 2014 auction, then the most expensive purchase in IPL history?

Yuvraj Singh lasted a single season in Bengaluru, yet after his release Delhi paid an even higher ₹16 crore for him at the 2015 auction.

Which former India head coach lasted one season at RCB, the bottom-placed 2019 campaign?

Gary Kirsten stepped up from batting coach, but RCB finished eighth of eight and Simon Katich replaced him in August 2019.

Which New Zealand batting great left his post as RCB's chief cricket officer after the disappointing 2008 season?

Martin Crowe left after a season of four wins in fourteen games; chief executive Charu Sharma had already gone midway, replaced after five defeats in the first seven.

Which former India seamer was RCB's first head coach, in the seventh-placed 2008 season?

Venkatesh Prasad's side won only four of its fourteen matches, and the owner publicly lamented having abstained from team selection.

Which South African coached RCB from late 2008 through 2013, including the 2009 and 2011 finals?

Ray Jennings, one of South Africa's leading wicketkeepers, spent his playing days shut out of Test cricket by the country's apartheid-era ban; at RCB he inherited a side that had finished seventh of eight.

Which future Pakistan captain joined RCB in the 2008 auction's second round, alongside Ross Taylor?

Misbah-ul-Haq never got a second season: Pakistani players have been shut out of the IPL since the Mumbai attacks of November 2008.

Which South African all-rounder, RCB's priciest 2008 signing, was benched that season for poor form?

Jacques Kallis, a $900,000 buy, was left out for several matches that season, yet he stayed with RCB for two more years before moving on in 2011.

RCB's first trophy in any competition came in the 2024 WPL final — which team did they beat?

Delhi Capitals were 64 without loss, then lost three wickets in one over and all ten for 49; RCB beat them again in the 2026 final, chasing 204.

Which India opener, the costliest buy at the first WPL auction in 2023, captained RCB to its 2024 and 2026 WPL titles?

Smriti Mandhana, bought for ₹3.4 crore, saw her side finish fourth of five in the first WPL season before lifting the trophy a year later.

Which RCB bowler took the 2024 WPL Purple Cap and 4 for 12 in the final?

Shreyanka Patil, signed for just ₹10 lakh, had managed only six wickets in the 2023 season before taking 13 in eight matches a year later.

Which Australian took the Orange Cap as top scorer in RCB's 2024 WPL title season?

Ellyse Perry had also played for Australia at a FIFA Women's World Cup before giving up football for cricket; RCB bought her for ₹1.7 crore at the league's first auction.

Which wicketkeeper's unbeaten 85 off 33 balls completed RCB's 228-run chase at Lucknow in May 2025?

Jitesh Sharma's innings answered Rishabh Pant's 118 not out, and the win sent RCB into Qualifier 1 with a perfect away record in the league stage.

Which Australian quick led RCB with 22 wickets in 2025 and defended 29 in the final's last over?

Josh Hazlewood opened that over with two dot balls, so although his last four deliveries went for 22, RCB still won by six runs.

Which West Indian's 14-ball fifty in 2025 set RCB's record for the fastest fifty?

Romario Shepherd took 32 off Khaleel Ahmed's 19th over on the way to the joint second-fastest fifty in IPL history, from a ₹1.5 crore base-price buy.

Which wicketkeeper, RCB's finisher from 2022 to 2024, returned as batting coach and mentor in 2025?

Dinesh Karthik struck at 183 for 330 runs in 2022, slumped to 140 runs the next year, then retired in June 2024 and moved straight onto RCB's coaching staff.

Which bowler took 28 wickets in RCB's 2026 title defence, the most for the team that season?

Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished just one wicket behind the Purple Cap winner, Kagiso Rabada, a year after his 2 for 38 helped RCB defend 190 in the 2025 final.

RCB sealed a 2024 playoff place with a sixth straight win, by 27 runs at home, over which rival?

Chennai Super Kings fell 27 runs short at the Chinnaswamy, completing RCB's recovery from seven defeats in their first eight games; the run ended in the Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals.

Which drinks giant controlled RCB's parent United Spirits from 2013 until the 2026 sale?

Diageo took a controlling interest in United Spirits in 2013, assumed full control when the previous owner quit as chairman, and sold the team in 2026.

M. Chinnaswamy, namesake of RCB's home ground, presided over which body from 1977 to 1980?

The BCCI presidency capped four decades of service to Karnataka's cricket association, which later renamed its stadium in his honour.

Which training centre for India's top young players was housed from 2000 at RCB's Chinnaswamy home?

National Cricket Academy trainees worked beside the stadium from 2000 until a new Centre of Excellence opened near Bengaluru's airport in 2024 and the old site began to wind down.

In 2014 RCB became the first IPL team to offer fans what at home games?

Free Wi-Fi reached the Chinnaswamy's 34,000 seats through 50 access points fed by fibre-optic cable, with fans logging on by one-time password.

Which Karnataka seamer, with 72 RCB wickets, became the Hall of Fame's third inductee in 2024?

Vinay Kumar left for Kochi in 2011, was bought back by RCB a year later and led their attack with 23 wickets in 2013.

In 2021 RCB played one match in sky-blue kits rather than red, as a tribute to which group?

COVID-19 frontline workers wear sky-blue PPE, and that season was itself halted midway by an outbreak among players before resuming in the UAE.

Whose unbeaten 158 in the first-ever IPL match in 2008 condemned RCB to a 140-run home defeat?

Brendon McCullum made his 158 off just 73 balls, and RCB's reply folded for 82; ten years later he joined RCB himself.

Which Karnataka batter's 473 runs in his first RCB season won the 2020 Emerging Player award?

Devdutt Padikkal outscored even Virat Kohli, 473 runs to 466, to finish as RCB's leading run-maker in his debut season, months after topping the Vijay Hazare Trophy charts.