Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping to end their trophy drought in this edition of the IPL as the tournament starts from March 22.

The Bengaluru-based outfit is set to play the opening match of the season against defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.   Despite the galaxy of stars in their squad over the years, RCB have never tasted IPL success and will be desperate to make amends. Faf du Plessis, their captain, has a decent arsenal this year with the inclusion of new blood in the squad. They have a strong squad for IPL 2024, along with veterans like Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and others, RCB are bolstered with the exuberance of youth as well. Given the plethora of talents they have, it will be a challenge for any youngster to veteran to guarantee their place in the starting XI, barring alone maybe Virat Kohli. RCB Squad Zones As the season comes around the corner, let's have a look at their strongest XI for IPL 2024. We will break the RCB squad into three zones - Zone 1: Players who are certain to be in the Playing XI or will be around there Zone 2: Players who will be squad players and can break into the team during the season Zone 3: Players who will have to be exceptional to keep their place as their chances may be hugely limited Zone 1: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Anuj Rawat, Alzarri Joseph Zone 2: Akash Deep, Tom Curran, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Suyash Prabhudessai, Lockie Ferguson, Karn Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Reece Topley, Yash Dayal Zone 3: Saurav Chauhan, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Rajan Kumar, Himanshu Sharma Royal Challengers will be keeping Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli as openers. After them, we can expect the likes of Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik and Cameron Green in the lineup. The RCB team management can pick either Mahipal Lomror or Mayank Dagar, but Lomror's batting prowess gives the team a better balance. In terms of bowling, Karn Sharma looks like a big option with his experience. In the pace department, Mohammed Siraj is a certain starter and Akash Deep/Vijaykumar Vyshak can be the other Indian pacer if required. In terms of overseas pace bowling, Alzarri Joseph is likely to be their chosen option. RCB can name Suyash Prabhudessai, Manoj Bhandage, Yash Dayal, Mayank Dagar and other Indian starlets as Impact Players. RCB IPL 2024 Strongest Playing XI: What is RCB Best Playing 11 for IPL 2024? Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Anuj Rawat, Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj Sauradeep Ash Mykhel source: mykhel.com