Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are two proud IPL teams. Their fan base is insane. Former India captain and current India captain lead their respective sides. But the similarity ends there. CSK have won 3 titles and their biggest strength is their core group. No matter what the performance if CSK has bought players into the setup they will back them. RCB on the other had failed to instill confidence among its players. The setup at RCB has been pretty demanding. There have been many instances where players have left RCB and done well for other franchises.
StumpsandBails looks at 5 players who left RCB and played well for Dhoni’s Team:
#5 Ashoke Dinda
Ashoke Dinda has had a very interesting career. The domestic workhorse never really got his due. He represented India on few occasions but failed to seize the opportunity. Dinda played for RCB in 2014 and 2015. He managed to pick just 5 wickets and was highly expensive too. RCB released Dinda ahead of the 2016 season. Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants picked Dinda in 2016. He had the most successful IPL season that year picking 12 wickets in 12 matches.
#4 Karn Sharma
Not many will be aware of the fact that Karn Sharma played his first-ever IPL game for RCB. He did not get a chance to roll his arm over for Bangalore. SRH later picked Sharma. He eventually represented CSK in their title-winning campaign in 2018. Sharma for all his bag of tricks is now a much-improved bowler. Post his association with MS Dhoni.
#3 Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat was selected to play for RCB in 2013. He had a fine season for them picking 13 wickets and conceding runs at just 7.55 per over. But RCB released Unadkat the next season. He plied his trade for Delhi in 2014-15 and for Kolkata in 2016. RPS bought Unadkat in 2017. He had a stellar season with the Dhoni team. Unadkat picked up 24 wickets at an average of 13.41 and a strike rate of 11.45. He was simply outstanding that year.
#2 Shane Watson
RCB invested heavily in Shane Watson in 2016. They bought him for INR 9 crores in the auction. Watson had a good season for RCB in 2016 when he picked 20 wickets and contributed with the bat too on a couple of occasions. But come IPL 2017, Watson’s form waned and he couldn’t deliver batting lower down the order. RCB wasted no time releasing Watson ahead of IPL 2018 auction. CSK picked Watson and played him as a pure batsman. They sent him to open (Watson’s preferred position). Watson smashed 555 runs in 2018 and his 117* (57) in the finals was the icing on the cake.
#1 Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali is a classic example. RCB brought in Ali in 2018. Ali was expected to provide batting comfort to the combo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Moeen Ali to his credit did sparkle in a few games across 2018 and 2019. His strike rate was well above 160 in both these seasons. But RCB failed to utilise Ali well in 2020. He got to play just 3 games. RCB released him ahead of the 2021 auctions. CSK were keen to bring Ali on board. And boy he has delivered! Ali has smashed 206 runs at an average of 34.33 and a strike rate of 157.25. He has chipped in with the ball too picking up 5 wickets conceding runs at just 6.16 per over.
AlsoRead: 5 Players Who Can Be Permanent Selections In The Team Post The WTC Finals
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