Playing for RCB can be a difficult task for players. Without a trophy so far, the players have to deal with loads of pressure while tugging on their skills. Maybe, it is for this reason that many fail in the red jersey. Often, we have seen cricketers leaving Royal Challengers Bangalore and doing well at other franchises. However, there are a handful of cricketers whose career sparked while playing for RCB.
These players did well at the franchise and also found a new leap of faith concerning their spot in the National Team. In this article, we talk about five players whose careers actually got a boost while playing for RCB.
1. Virat Kohli
At the top of the list has to be this name. Having started his career at RCB, Virat Kohli still plays for the same franchise. In between, he has become the highest run-scorer of the tournament and the captain of the Indian Team.
Virat found himself in between legends such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis in the first few seasons. It is here that he developed his game and raised the bar to an unreachable level. Apart from learning from the biggies, Virat also took many learnings from his own game while playing for RCB.
2. KL Rahul
It was just one season with them, and it changed KL Rahul’s career altogether. Although he made his IPL debut for RCB, KLR then had a short stint at Sunrisers Hyderabad before shifting back to his home franchise.
While playing for RCB, KL developed his ability to score boundaries and sixes consistently. As a follow-up of that season, he got a chance in the Indian Team’s limited-overs setup. Since then, the journey has only been upwards for the right-hander. He is currently India’s best T20 batsman and is slowly moving up the charts in ODI cricket.
3. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle’s IPL career was in dilemma after he was unsold ahead of IPL 2011. Everyone knew that he was a proper T20 cricketer, but no one chose to invest. However, after he wore the red jersey, the tournament itself became indebted to him.
With the exploits that he managed to execute at RCB, Gayle was able to win back the trust of all the other T20 franchises, which were confused about him until then. The ‘Universe Boss’ also got a long run in his country’s T20 set up. All of this happened after playing for RCB.
4. Yuzvendra Chahal
Let alone the Indian Team, Yuzvendra Chahal was struggling to find a place in Team Haryana at that time. Amit Mishra was also in the squad, and Yuzi was the second-choice leg-spinner. However, after RCB occurred to him, he became the leader of the Indian spin-attack.
At the moment, the wily leggie is RCB’s highest wicket-taker. In 98 games, the bowler has collected 121 wickets at an average of 22.22. While he is the backbone of the RCB bowling unit, Yuzi also holds a crucial role in the Indian Team.
5. Ross Taylor
It was not a great time for Ross Taylor in his career, at that time. Although he was still in the New Zealand Team, there were concerns regarding his consistency and ability to be inventive. However, the stint at RCB helped him overcome it.
Across three seasons, Ross played 31 games and made 733 runs at an average of 31.68 and strike-rate of 148.68. He was hands down, the best player for RCB in the first three seasons. This phase helped the Kiwi to nail down a particular slot in the playing XI of his country. It also assisted him in improving his big-hitting, which he later also applied in one of the World Cups to a massive extent.
