50 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 rescheduled final on 3 June 2025, nine days after its original 25 May date in Kolkata.

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

Gujarat Titans made 155 for 8 and RCB chased it down in 18 overs, five days after beating the same side in Qualifier 1.

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 the purchase, which topped the $1.63 billion paid for Rajasthan Royals earlier in 2026.

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

Vijay Mallya, bidding through the United Breweries Group, was outbid only by the $111.9 million paid for the Mumbai franchise.

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

Whisky brand Royal Challenge, launched in the early 1980s, won out over stablemate McDowell's No.1 as the team's namesake, and the RC crown-and-lion emblem was lifted straight from its label.

Which West Indian's 175 not out for RCB against Pune Warriors 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.

For what total were RCB bowled out in Kolkata in 2017, setting the record for the IPL's lowest innings?

49 all out lasted just 9.4 overs, in a season RCB finished bottom with ten defeats in fourteen games.

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

A 400 kW rooftop array lets the ground run on rooftop solar power, a ₹4.5 crore project the Karnataka association modelled on Freiburg's football stadium in Germany.

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

Rajat Patidar had announced himself with an unbeaten 112 in the 2022 Eliminator, the first IPL playoff century by an uncapped player, three years before taking the captaincy.

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

AB de Villiers scored 4,491 runs for RCB from 2011 to 2021 and was a founding inductee of the franchise's Hall of Fame in 2022.

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

Andy Flower, the first Zimbabwean in the ICC Hall of Fame, arrived for 2024 after two seasons in charge of Lucknow Super Giants.

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 held RCB to 200 for 7, with Ben Cutting named Player of the Match for their maiden title.

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

Deccan Chargers, captained by Adam Gilchrist, defended a modest 143 for 6 built on Herschelle Gibbs's 53, in a season played entirely in South Africa.

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's side topped the 2011 table with 19 points before losing the final to Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs.

Which Karnataka great captained RCB in 2008 as its icon player, paid 15% above the top auction buy?

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 worn which colour instead of red once a season, for an environmental campaign?

Green replaces the red for the #GameForGreen fixture, one of several one-off kits worn alongside the separate home and away strips the club introduced in 2016.

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

Manish Pandey, a Karnataka batter RCB picked up in 2009, had spent 2008 on Mumbai's books after a $30,000 auction buy.

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 left RCB after 2021 as the franchise's leading wicket-taker, with 139?

Yuzvendra Chahal had played a single IPL match in three seasons at Mumbai before RCB signed him, and he bowled in the 2016 final.

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 against Kolkata Knight Riders, two seasons after RCB signed him at the 2018 auction.

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

Mitchell Starc took 20 wickets in 2015 after a late arrival from injury, turning a bottom-placed RCB into a side that lost once in seven matches.

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, where the side finished seventh in a year split between the UAE and India.

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

Gary Kirsten was promoted from batting coach in August 2018 and replaced a year later by Simon Katich, after RCB won just five of fourteen games.

Which New Zealand batting great resigned as RCB's chief cricketing officer during the 2008 season?

Martin Crowe's exit came in a season that also saw the CEO, Charu Sharma, sacked midway and replaced by Brijesh Patel.

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

Venkatesh Prasad oversaw four wins from fourteen matches, a season in which the owner publicly lamented abstaining from team selection.

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

Ray Jennings had coached South Africa and its Under-19 side, and inherited a squad that had finished seventh of eight in 2008.

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

Misbah-ul-Haq later turned out for Kandurata Warriors in Sri Lanka and St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean, but 2008 remained his only IPL season.

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

Jacques Kallis averaged under 17 with the bat in that 2008 season, yet stayed on to help RCB qualify for the 2010 Champions League.

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

Delhi Capitals lost to RCB again in the 2026 final, when a target of 204 was chased down in 19.4 overs for the women's second title.

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

Smriti Mandhana cost ₹3.4 crore and has led the side to both of its WPL titles, finishing second in the 2024 run charts.

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

Shreyanka Patil, signed for just ₹10 lakh in 2023, took 13 wickets in eight matches that season.

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

Ellyse Perry, the first player to 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20 internationals, was bought by RCB for ₹1.7 crore at the league's first auction in 2023.

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 made RCB the first team to take every away league game in a season.

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

Josh Hazlewood gave up 22 of the 29 needed to close out the final, having first joined RCB at the 2022 mega auction for ₹7.75 crore.

Which West Indian's 14-ball fifty against Chennai Super Kings 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 as a ₹5.5 crore buy, and in 2025 took the RCB role alongside coaching London Spirit in The Hundred.

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

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had also taken 2 for 38 in the 2025 final, helping RCB defend 190 for 9.

Having lost seven of eight to start 2024, how many games in a row did RCB win to make the playoffs?

Six consecutive wins still ended in an Eliminator defeat by four wickets to Rajasthan Royals, with Yash Dayal the team's top wicket-taker on 15.

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

Diageo assumed full control when the previous owner quit as United Spirits chairman in February 2016, and sold the team for ₹16,660 crore a decade later.

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 by a lawyer from Mandya, born in 1900.

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

National Cricket Academy trainees shared the ground with RCB from the league's first season, its stands painted red and yellow, the colours of both the team and Karnataka's flag.

In 2014 RCB became the first IPL team to offer fans what at home games, via fibre-optic cables?

Free Wi-Fi ran through 50 access points on match days, part of a home experience that also hands fans cheer kits, flags and noisemakers.

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

Vinay Kumar led RCB's bowling with 23 wickets in 2013, the year the team's captaincy passed to Virat Kohli.

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.

For what total were RCB bowled out in the inaugural IPL match of 2008, a 140-run home defeat?

82 all out in 15.1 overs followed the visitors' 222 for 3 at the Chinnaswamy on the league's opening night, 18 April 2008.

What total did RCB post at home against Pune Warriors India in April 2013, an IPL record until 2024?

263 for 5 stood as the IPL's highest total for eleven seasons, and RCB won that match by 130 runs.

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

Devdutt Padikkal had topped the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy with 609 runs, and he became the first player in IPL history to hit three fifties in his first four games.