Royal Challengers Bangalore undoubtedly enjoys one of the most loyal fanbases for an IPL team. They have a strong brand connection owing to Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to an extent. But this factor has at times negated the growth of the team and a few key talents surrounding them. There have been many players who have left RCB and excelled for another team. Here are 5 Players Who Were Underutilized By RCB
5 Players Who Were Underutilized By RCB
#5 Shimron Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer had a tremendous run of form preceding IPL 2019 auctions. RCB unsurprisingly acquired Hetmyer in 2019. But they stopped short of giving him consistent game time.
Hetmyer played a total of 5 games in 2019. He top-scored in the last league game scoring 75 runs. Even then he wasn’t retained the next year and Hetmyer went on to play for DC. Hetmyer has since then averaged 27 and struck at 162.
#4 Marcus Stoinis
It is quite hard to understand why RCB released Marcus Stoinis ahead of the 2020 IPL auctions. Stoinis had more than a decent IPL with RCB in 2019 wherein he scored 211 runs in 10 games averaging 52.75.
Stoinis did fairly well with the ball providing a couple of overs to RCB each game. But RCB released him and much like Hetmyer, DC bought in Stoinis too. He had a stellar IPL 2020 scoring 352 runs and picked up 13 wickets.
#3 Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock is one of the finest batsmen of the present generation. He had a sizzling IPL season in 2016 playing for Delhi. RCB picked Kock in 2018 auctions but failed to give him a consistent run of games.
This resulted in Kock having his worst IPL season ever. RCB quickly released him ahead of 2019 auctions where MI grabbed him. He is now one of MI’s biggest batting mainstays. Kock has scored more than 400 runs in 2016, 2091, and 2020. The only season where he scored just 201 runs (8 games) was the season where he played for RCB.
#2 Shane Watson
RCB’s failure of not utilizing players properly reflects in the manner they dealt with Shane Watson. He was one of their star performers in their best-ever season (2016). RCB played Watson in the middle order in a bid to finish off games. The move derailed Watson’s ability to play match-winning innings. But he more than made it up with his bowling.
He picked up 20 wickets at a strike rate of 16.95 which was by far his best bowling year. But RCB didn’t find worth in giving Watson a full season next year and played him in just 8 games. RCB released Watson ahead of 2018 auctions wherein CSK bagged him. Watson went on to have a stellar season for CSK scoring 555 runs as an opener striking at 154.59.
#1 KL Rahul
This move probably hurts RCB the most. What they did with Virat Kohli in 2008-10 was something that RCB needed to do with KL Rahul. But they gave up too soon on Rahul and they are already regretting the decision. Rahul had a stellar IPL 2016 with RCB scoring 397 runs at an average of 44.11 and striking at 146.49.
He sadly underwent an injury in 2017 and didn’t play a single game. RCB surprisingly released Rahul ahead of the 2018 mega auctions. Punjab Kings bagged Rahul for INR 11 crores in 2018 auctions. Rahul became the first batsman to score over 575 runs in 3 consecutive seasons. RCB clearly missed a talent in Rahul.
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