IPL: 5 Players Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) regret not retaining

RCB has been one of the most popular teams in the history of the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL). This vogue has been maintained by the likes of some of the best players of the modern era, most notably being Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. However, they are one of the 3 functioning teams that are yet to win maiden IPL trophy and the Challengers are one of them.

Every year, the loyal fans expect that their team will have its best chance to win this time. However, poor team selection and lack of a balanced squad have not helped to their cause. Another big reason is the lack of patience and faith on the team players. It has been a common experience that RCB release a player due to a string of poor performances, who then move on to be a trump card for others and make RCB regret over its decision. Let us take a look at some of those players:

KL Rahul

KL Rahul was a part of the RCB team that was the runners-up in the 2016 season. Even though he remained under the shadow of Chris Gayle, ABD and Virat Kohli throughout, he put up a decent performance, accumulating 397 runs in 14 matches. His tally also included 4 half-centuries. He was retained for IPL 2017 but pulled out of the whole season due to a shoulder injury.

When the mega auctions arrived in 2018, he could not be retained because of the maximum possible retentions being only 3. In the auction, he was brought by KXIP at a whopping 11 crores. And his performance totally proved that they had not done any wrong in investing so much over him.

He scored 659 runs at an average of 54.91. Opening with Chris Gayle at the top, he played a significant role in helping KXIP reach decent totals in most matches. Undoubtedly, the decision to let him go turned out to be a blunder for RCB.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle was one backbone of the RCB batting. The southpaw had been an integral member of the team since his debut for them in 2011. However, he had a poor outing in IPL 2016 and 2017, wherein he could manage 227 and 200 runs respectively. As expected, RCB released him for the mega auctions. He went unsold in the first 2 rounds. In the third round, when all the teams were done with their squads, KXIP surprised everyone by picking him up for his base price of 2 crores.

Unfortunately, RCB had only 15 lakhs left and they couldn’t go in the bidding war. And the decision turned out to be a masterstroke, as he scored 368 runs in 11 matches that he played. While opening remained a concern for RCB throughout IPL 2018, their ex-players KL Rahul and Chris Gayle scored the majority of the runs for their team while opening only, making RCB regret of their decision to release them.

Kedar Jadhav

Kedar Jadhav played for RCB in 2016 and 2017. The pocket-sized dynamite did not get sufficient opportunities in 2016, and could not capitalize on the given ones in 2017. After this, he was released for IPL 2018, and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought him for a whopping 7.8 crores.

RCB had to pay a huge price for not retaining him. After he was released, he went on to become an important member of the Indian cricket team, not only as a batsman but also as a utility part-time spinner. Although the injury kept him out of IPL 2018, he has been a vital cog in CSK’s team in IPL 2019.

Billy Stanlake

Billy Stanlake donned the RCB jersey in his maiden IPL season that was in 2017. However, he went underutilized and played only 2 games in that season. Not to anyone’s surprise, he was released by the franchise. He was snapped by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the following season. He played 4 games and picked up 5 wickets.

Although he hasn’t enjoyed much success in IPL, he could have solved RCB’s death bowling issue. He has a height of 6.8 feet, which helps him to bowl pretty venomous bouncers. With little support and grooming from the Challengers, the tall and lanky speedster could have become an asset for them.

Steve Smith

Steve Smith was the biggest hidden gem in the RCB dressing room. He joined the team in 2010 but did not get a single match. This was because he himself had not discovered his batting talent till then and he was never good as a leggie. Again, he ended up without playing any match for Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

He was the find of Pune Warriors India, and he scored 362 runs for them in 15 matches. After PWI became defunct, he became the most important player for Rajasthan Royals (RR). Smith has scored over 1800 runs in IPL. Imagine if Virat Kohli and he would have played together for RCB, this could have created history.

~Written by Ayuj Aryan

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.