Royal Challengers Bangalore were one of the ten teams that took part in the 2011 Indian Premier League. They were captained by former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori and coached by Ray Jennings. They finished as runners-up of the tournament after losing to Chennai Super Kings in the final. With this, they qualified for the 2011 Champions League Twenty20, where they again finished runners-up after losing the final to the Mumbai Indians.

The 2011 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 4 or the IPL 2011, was the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, the top Twenty20 cricket league in India. The tournament was hosted in India and the opening and closing ceremonies were held in M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, the home venue of the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings. The season ran from 8 April to 28 May 2011. This season the number of teams in the league went from eight to ten with the additions of the Pune Warriors India and the Kochi Tuskers Kerala.