Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have been the two most popular IPL franchises since the inception of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore have been a part of three IPL finals so far but they have not won any. Mumbai Indians on the other hand have won 4 out of 5 finals they have played. Many players have made their mark in the last 11 years from both the teams. In which 5 Indian international players are included.In such a situation, in this article, we will know about 5 Indian players playing for both the franchises.
Robin Uthappa:
Robin Uthappa started his IPL career playing for Mumbai Indians in the year 2008. He scored 277 runs in 14 matches for the Mumbai franchise. During that time the strike rate of this right-handed batsman was 113 and his highest score was 48.
In 2009, Mumbai Indians traded him to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Being a native of Karnataka, Uthappa got an opportunity to play for his home franchise. Although he performed poorly in the 2009 season, scoring just 175 runs in the 15 matches he played, his team finished as runners-up in South Africa.
Dinesh Karthik:
Dinesh Karthik, who started his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils, moved to Mukesh Ambani’s franchise Mumbai Indians in the year 2012. Dinesh Karthik had a disappointing 2012 season while playing as a wicket-keeper batsman. During this, he could only score 238 runs in 17 matches in which he averaged 18.30.
After playing for Delhi Daredevils in 2014, Karthik joined RCB in 2015. The year 2015 was the worst season for Karthik. He scored only 141 runs in 16 matches. In which he also represented the Bangalore franchise.
R Vinay Kumar:
R Vinay Kumar started his career playing for his home franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Playing for RCB in the first 3 seasons, he took 30 wickets, out of which 16 wickets came in the third season. After the exit of the Kochi franchise, Vinay once again returned to the Bangalore team and took 42 wickets in the next 2 seasons at an economy of 8.35.
Joined the KKR team in 2014, then Vinay Kumar moved to Mumbai Indians in 2015 where he was used as the team’s second fast bowler. He failed miserably in his first season for Mumbai. He could take only 7 wickets in 13 matches.
Zaheer Khan:
Indian left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan started his IPL career with Royal Challengers Bangalore and took 13 wickets in 11 matches before joining the Mumbai Indians squad for the next season. Zaheer Khan took 21 wickets in 20 matches he played for the Mumbai franchise and returned to the Bangalore team in the year 2011.
Zaheer Khan was with the Bangalore franchise for 3 years and during this time he took 36 wickets to his name. In which his career best performance of 4/17 was also included in the 2013 season. He then represented Mumbai again in the 2014 season, but could only play 6 matches for them where he took 5 wickets for the franchise.
RP Singh:
RP Singh was involved in the 2012 IPL auction when his 2011 franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala was pulled out of the tournament. Mumbai Indians included the experienced Indian pacer in their squad and Singh put on a decent show in the 2012 season. He took 10 wickets in 11 matches and had a best of 3/28. However, Mumbai Indians decided not to retain him and released him ahead of the auction.
Royal Challengers Bangalore became RP Singh’s next team. He improved on his 2012 performance and in the sixth edition of the IPL, he took 13 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 8.41. RP Singh went unsold in the next two auctions before Rising Pune Supergiants included him in their squad for the 2016 season.
