5 Players who left RCB and Fired all cylinders for other franchises!l
RCB is one team out of all the IPL teams who has shown promise every season but ended up repeating the same slogan for the last 15 years – “Ee salaa cup namade” without much glory. The main reason for that is the lack of faith shown by the management in the players. Every player wants the management and the captain to back them, especially when the going gets tough and RCB has just not been able to back the right players at the right time over the years.
RCB always had those right “Match-winning” players in their squad, but ended up giving them a shorter rope or just floating them around in the batting order without giving them a consistent run to prove their metal. The fact of the matter is such that, the players who were dumped by RCB went on to win the IPL title with other franchises. We will look at 5 such players who were loaded with potential and raw talent, but RCB ended up losing the diamond while chasing glitter.
- KL Rahul –
In the 2016 Season, Where RCB looked like the most balanced side of all the years and were one of the favorites to win the title. KL Rahul had an important role to play in RCB reaching the finals along with AB & Virat Kohli. Having scored 397 runs in 12 innings at a brisk strike rate of 146 KL Rahul was definitely a potential talent coming up the ranks. While RCB retained Sarfaraz Khan over KL Rahul, KL left no stone unturned with his new franchise – Punjab, scoring 659 runs in 14 innings with an astonishing strike rate of 158 for someone who was predominantly known as a “Test” player.
Rahul broke the shackles there after with Punjab by becoming the second-highest scorer in IPL in the 2019 edition with 593 runs, including a ton. Rahul continued his rich vein of form in 2020 too, winning the Orange cup with 670 runs with one century and five 50s. RCB will certainly be rethinking their strategy of letting Rahul go, who also had the potential of captaining RCB in the future.
- Quinton De Kock –
The South African wicket-keeper batter, De Kock was brought by RCB for a steal price of just 2.8 Crores in the 2018 mega auction. QDK had a brilliant 2016 edition, being the highest run scorer for DC, scoring 445 runs at an average of 37, including a century against RCB itself. An injury scare ruled out Quinny from the 2017 IPL season and after being purchased by RCB in 2018, Quinton got just 8 matches under his belt and was left and dry by RCB.
The Mumbai Indians capitalized on the situation by securing QDK’s services in 2019 and Quinton went on to score 529 runs in 16 innings with four 50s and became the 3rd highest run scorer in the 2019 Edition overall. Quinney was not only the highest scorer for MI, but the quick fire starts provided by Quinton were experimental in Mumbai, winning the IPL Trophy in 2019.
- Moeen Ali –
RCB and their stories of not backing players are well known. Another victim of not being backed by RCB management was Moeen Ali. The England all rounder Moeen after being left out by RCB, was shown trust and backed by the CSK management where he was given a longer run at the number 3 position.
Ali was not just experimental in scoring at a brisk, where he scored 357 runs in 15 innings, but he was utilized by MSD as more of an all rounder than just a batter. Ali picked up 6 crucial wickets with best figures of 3 for seven runs. Mo’ was another player in the list who, after being released from RCB went to get their hands on the IPL trophy.
- Shane Watson –
The fiery Australian all-rounder who has always been a match winner for whichever team he has played for, was roped in by RCB in search of their maiden IPL title. RCB trusted Shane with a full season, giving Watson 16 games to show his caliber. However, as giving longer ropes to the right players has always been a problem for RCB, and it was not different for Watto either.
After being an RCBian for 2 seasons, Watson was backed by the whistle podu army where he was the leading run scorer for CSK in the 2018 season with a breathtaking knock of 117 not out in the finals against the Orange army and brought back IPL glory to CSK in 2018. Shane Watson almost helped CSK win their 5th title in 2019 with a marathon innings of 80(59) with a bleeding right knee on the night of the finals but felt short by just 1 run.
1 Yuzvendra Chahal –
None of the RCB fans would have ever imagined their dear Yuzi would ever be leaving their red & gold uniform and would be donning any other jersey, for that matter of fact. But that has been the case with RCB for over 15 years now, where they have not shown faith in potential players and match winners.
To many people’s surprise, Yuzvendra chahal was not retained by RCB and was eventually picked by Rajasthan Royals in the mega auction for a stealing price of 6.50 crores.
And boy! Yuzi didn’t disappoint the new franchise, the proud owner of the Purple cap picked up 11 wickets at a squeezing economy of just 6.50 runs per over, which is the lowest among the top 10 wicket takers. Chahal with his streak smart leg spin bowling, has given crucial breakthroughs to RR whenever the opposition team were cruising towards a victory. Only time will tell, whether yuzi will also go onto win an IPL trophy for his new franchise after leaving RCB? But one thing is for sure, RCB will definitely be missing his services in this season.