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RCB had to wait 18 years to win maiden IPL title, but 3 more teams have endured longer waits and bigger heartbreaks
RCB ended their wait to win the IPL, but there have been similar waits across the world of sports
The two finalists in this year's Indian Premier League had both waited 18 years for their maiden IPL title. But compared to the Punjab Kings, it always felt like a first title would mean more to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. For their entire title-less run, the team had crafted some of the most sparkling batting performances in the IPL. They have a fanbase that is expressive and loyal. All that gave RCB's wait its own story and spirit. Across sports, and time, there have been similar waits.
1. RCB in IPL: 18 years
Before this year, RCB's record in the previous 17 seasons of the IPL read 7 semi-final/playoff appearances and three finals. Their home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, was made for batting, with flat pitches and smaller boundaries. For the most part, RCB spent a disproportionate share of its budget on high-profile batters, notably Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle. Ironically, when they won the title, they did so with perhaps the lowest superstar quotient they have ever had. Among the eight teams that have won the IPL, RCB has taken the longest so far – 18 years. The previous highest was the Mumbai Indians, the IPL showtime team, which took six years to win its first trophy.
2. England in football: 59 years
In football, the veritable cycle of hope and disappointment is England at the football World Cup. The last time England won the title was in 1966, which was also the last time it hosted the World Cup. Since then, England, which has historically had a strong club structure, has created many 'this is the year' narratives, but never quite crossed the line.
3. Ferrari in F1: 20 years
For nearly as long as Formula 1 has been around, the red car has been a fixture. Ferrari and F1 are synonymous with each other. It's the most winning team, with 15 driver championships [s – roughly, one every five years. But there was a 20-year stretch during which it did not win the driver's championship. Between 1950 to 1979, Ferrari dominated, winning nine championships. However, between 1980 to 1999, their championship count read ZERO. The drought ended in 2000, and over the next 24 years, it lifted the silverware six times, albeit still behind Red Bull and Mercedes with eight and seven wins respectively.
It was also into such a breach that Michael Schumacher joined the team for the 1996 season, with the team not having won the driver's title since 1979. With Schumacher at the centre, Ferrari started restoring itself, climbing up the grid, fusing a slickness into its historical panache. Four years, it fell short, at times tantalisingly so. But in 20000, it came together, and Schumacher and Ferrari won that elusive title and went on a run of five straight.
4. South Africa in World Cups: 34 years
From cricketing possibility to mathematical impossibility, courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis system for recalculating targets in rain-affected matches, in 1992. One of the two sides out of 10 to come to the quarter-finals with a clean record, and then a quarter-final knockout in 1996. A last-over tie in 1999. Duckworth-Lewis again in 2003, at home. Unable to defend 11 runs in the last over in 2015 and finally, failing to chase down 24 runs off four overs in a T20 World Cup final. This is South Africa's list of woes in the ODI and T20 World Cups.
