Royal Challengers Bangalore is perhaps the unluckiest franchise in IPL history. The Virat Kohli-led outfit has qualified for three IPL finals, losing all of them. Besides, the last few seasons have not been good for Bangalore as they have found themselves in the bottom half of the final standings. The fans feel that the atmosphere is not right for the players at RCB, as most of the big names have not matched the expectations while playing for this franchise.
In this article, we will look at those eleven players who only performed well when they played for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Openers – TM Dilshan and Marcus Stoinis
TM Dilshan, the Sri Lankan opener, was a part of Delhi Daredevils before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore. The right-handed batsman formed an excellent partnership with Chris Gayle at the top. His performance for RCB was much better than his previous seasons as he amassed 587 runs for them in 24 innings. Marcus Stoinis from Australia could not live up to the expectations until IPL 2019. Though his bowling was not extraordinary for RCB, his economy rate was much lesser than his previous seasons. Also, he had a terrific average of 52.75 with the bat.
Middle-order – AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shreevats Goswami
Like TM Dilshan, AB de Villiers was a part of Delhi and became a part of RCB. The cricket universe has witnessed the massive change in his numbers as he has become one of the biggest stars of the league. Sarfaraz Khan started his career with RCB, and his explosive performance with the bat forced the team to invest a lot of money in him. Unfortunately, he could not improve his performance from the 2015 and 2016 seasons. KXIP signed him later, but the 2015 season with RCB remains his best.
Shreevats Goswami is an Indian wicket-keeper who kicked off his IPL journey with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Over the years, he has played for multiple teams, but his performance in 2008 had helped him win the Best U-19 player of the season award.
All-rounders – Roelof van der Merwe and Balachandra Akhil
Former South African all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe was one of the critical reasons behind RCB’s success in IPL 2009. Since the tournament in South Africa, he knew the conditions better than other players. The all-rounder took 11 wickets in 11 games for RCB and even chipped in with a few cameos. Balachandra Akhil is a lesser-known player, but his all-round brilliance had helped RCB perform well in the first seasons. Akhil was a finisher for RCB and had a strike rate of 148.39 in IPL 2008. With the ball, he picked up six wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.50. He played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011, but never returned to the IPL after that season.
Bowlers – Vinay Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Aaron, and Navdeep Saini
RCB always relied on overseas stars in the batting department. Hence, the team management hunted for Indian bowlers in the auction. Over the years, some of the great Indian bowlers have played for this franchise. Vinay Kumar had become a big name in Indian cricket after his consistent performances for RCB. Kumar scalped 72 wickets in 64 games for RCB, but could not generate the same numbers when playing for other teams.
Many fans would know that Yuzvendra Chahal was a part of Mumbai Indians before joining Bangalore. He never received a proper opportunity to showcase, but at RCB, he has scalped 101 wickets in only 83 games. Varun Aaron is often regarded as a talent who could have achieved a lot more if Aaron had proper fitness levels. Aaron regularly leaked runs in the death overs, but when playing for RCB in 2014, he emerged as the leading wicket-taker for the team, even beating Mitchell Starc in the race.
Navdeep Saini is the last name on this team. He was a part of the Delhi-based franchise for years, but just like Chahal, his first franchise did not utilize him to perfection. He is currently one of the best Indian fast bowlers, which shows how his career graph went up after joining RCB.
