Team: Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captain: Rahul Dravid
Coach: Venkatesh Prasad
Franchisee: UB Group
Franchise cost: $111.6 Million
Squad:
Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Abdur Razzak
Balachandra Akhil
KP Appanna
Jagadeesh Arunkumar
Mark Boucher (wk)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Bharat Chipli
Shreevats Goswami (wk)
Wasim Jaffer
Sunil Joshi
Jacques Kallis
Zaheer Khan
Virat Kohli
Praveen Kumar
Anil Kumble
Misbah-ul-Haq
Ashley Noffke
Devraj Patil
Dale Steyn
Ross Taylor
Vinay Kumar
Cameron White
Nathan Bracken
Venkatesh Prasad (Coach)
Home Ground: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
Originally named the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, the ground was eventually renamed after M Chinnaswamy, who was the president of the Indian board from 1977 until 1980, and was involved in the administration of Karnataka cricket for close to four decades. The foundation for the construction of the stadium was laid in May 1969 and building began in 1970.
The stadium was given Test status in 1974-75 and hosted West Indies in the opening match, although the stadium was only half-built. That match was also the debut of two West Indian greats, Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards. The stadium also played host to Sunil Gavaskar’s swansong innings – a masterclass on a minefield – when India went down to Pakistan in the series decider in 1987.
The stadium was renovated before the two sides met each other again in another titanic encounter; the World Cup quarter-final in 1996, when floodlights were installed for the first time. Since then, Bangalore has proved to be a lucky venue for visiting teams with South Africa, Australia and Pakistan winning crucial games. South Africa’s historic series win in 2000, Michael Clarke’s sensational hundred on debut, Inzamam’s century in his 100th Test and Anil Kumble’s 400th Test wicket have been the highlights over the last decade.