Indian Premier League (IPL) has been providing much-needed chances to players – be it domestic or international to showcase their talents as well as polish their skills since its inception. Eight teams started to participate in the tournament whereas 2 more teams joined last year. And, this 10-team tournament is one of the best cricket leagues across the globe as well.
One of the least successful IPL teams, RCB is one of only three active squads that has never won the championship. Their struggles in the league are self-evident given that they have only reached the playoffs six times in 13 seasons.
They have also frequently been referred to as an “unlucky” franchise because a number of elite players have underperformed for the team but excelled after leaving. Many players who left the club and found success outside it include Quinton de Kock, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Manish Pandey.
It is therefore clear that the team hasn’t had much luck over the years, and it is difficult to find players who have succeeded after joining them.
5 players who showed improvement after joining the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB):
1. AB de Villiers
Few players have had as much of an impact on the IPL as AB de Villiers, one of its greatest players of all time. Throughout his IPL career, he has consistently destroyed bowling attacks and been a prolific performer.
Before joining RCB in 2011, the South African played for the Delhi Daredevils from 2008 to 2010. He played well for them in 2009, but that was sandwiched between two dreadful performances. But after joining RCB, things took a turn for the better because he only once averaged less than 30.
He has so far scored 4226 runs for RCB in 131 innings, doing so at a rate of nearly 160. ABD’s best season came in 2016 when he scored 687 runs in 16 games at a strike rate of 168.79.
2. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle is another player who, after joining RCB, became an IPL legend. Throughout his time with the team, he further solidified his position as the greatest T20 player of all time. He played poorly for KKR before being signed by RCB in 2011 and going on to become an IPL superstar.
He managed just 2 half-centuries while scoring 463 runs for KKR in two seasons. Even the 2011 auction saw no takers for Gayle, who entered the competition only after being acquired by RCB to replace Dirk Nannes. In just 11 games that season, he scored 608 runs, seizing the chance with both hands and winning the Orange Cap.
Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Virat Kohli made up a lethal trio that earned Gayle the Orange Cap in 2012. While striking out more than 150 times for RCB, he has scored 3163 runs in 84 innings at an average of 43 points. They let the Jamaican play for the Punjab Kings after they released him in 2018.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal
Over the past few years, Yuzvendra Chahal has been the only reliable bowler for RCB and has essentially carried the entire weight of their bowling attack on his own. He has established himself as Virat Kohli’s go-to man for the Royal Challengers, and thanks to his performance there, he was even included in the Indian team.
He spent a few years with the Mumbai Indians but was only able to play in one IPL game before being released before the 2014 season. The fact that RCB signed him and gave him numerous chances to succeed changed his career.
In 100 games, the leg-spinner has taken 121 wickets at a strike rate of 17/80 while giving up just under 7/07 in his IPL career. He has taken the ninth-most wickets in league history, and RCB will be hoping that he can keep providing them with results along these lines.
4. KL Rahul
No one would have predicted that KL Rahul would become the T20 star he is today because he was initially thought to be more suited to the longer formats of the game. He was with RCB in 2013, but he performed poorly when given a chance, leading to his purchase by SRH.
The Hyderabad-based team gave the wicketkeeper-batsman plenty of opportunities, but he failed to take advantage of them and could only muster 308 runs in 20 games at a dismal strike rate of 106 points.
He did, however, join his neighbourhood team once more in 2016 and had a fantastic season, scoring 397 runs in 14 games while batting in the middle of the order, with a strike rate of 146.49. Rahul was also chosen for the limited-overs squads on the basis of his performances, and he hasn’t looked back since. Rahul, a player for Punjab and their captain, is similar to Gayle.
5. Vinay Kumar
One of the greatest domestic cricket players in Indian history, Vinay Kumar recently announced his retirement from the game. Before being released in 2013, he even spent some time with the Indian team and participated in 41 games across all formats.
The former captain of Karnataka performed admirably while playing for RCB’s first 33 games over the course of the first three seasons. He took 27 wickets. In 2011, Kochi Tuskers Kerala purchased him, and he went on to have an average season, taking 12 wickets in 13 appearances.
He had his two best seasons after rejoining RCB in 2012, picking up 19 wickets in his first season and 23 the following. However, after that, when he left RCB, his earnings decreased. The majority of his IPL wickets came while he was playing for his local team, making him one of only 16 bowlers with more than 100 total IPL wickets.
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