IPL History: 5 players released by Royal Challengers Bangalore who won IPL titles
Ever since the commencement of the cash-rich Indian Premier League in 2008, Royal Challengers Bangalore has been one of the most-talked-about teams.
RCB always had talented Indian cricketers, great overseas signings, and arguably the most passionate fan base. Despite all of this, the number of IPL titles in twelve years is zero.
Virat Kohli-led RCB has a win percentage of 48.66 with 72 wins and 76 losses from 153 IPL games, and this stat does not do justice to the kind of talent that it has possessed over the years. The luck factor also has not favoured the RCB as they have ended up on the losing side in all the three finals they have made it to.
But there have been few former RCB players who have tasted victories in the finals, but only after they joined some other franchise.
Here's a look at five players who have been a part of IPL title-winning teams after they were let go by the RCB franchise:
#5 Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis made his IPL debut with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season. The legendary all-rounder from South Africa represented the RCB team from 2008 to 2010 IPL seasons.
During his run with the Bengaluru-based franchise, Kallis played 42 IPL games and scored 1132 runs at an average of 33. He also took his score beyond 50 on 11 occasions. Even after such a good performance, he wasn't able to win the title for his team.
Kallis joined the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in 2011. A year later, KKR won the IPL title, and Kallis was part of the winning team. He scored a valuable 49-ball 69 to help KKR chase down 191 against the mighty Chennai Super Kings. The former Proteas player last played an IPL match in 2014.
#4 Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey became the first Indian player to score a ton in the Indian Premier League while playing for RCB. He was also part of the RCB team, which lost the IPL final in 2009 against Deccan Chargers.
Pandey has come a long way since. The talented batsman from Karnataka has also played for Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors India before joining Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014.
In the same year, he played a superb knock of 94 off just 50 balls in the final against KXIP to help KKR chase down 200 for their second IPL title and his first. Pandey will be playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad this year.
#3 Parthiv Patel
The left-handed keeper-batsman has been a part of as many as six teams in the Indian Premier League. He has played for Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, Kochi Tuskers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Parthiv played for RCB in the 2014 IPL season. He had featured in 12 matches for them and scored only 205 runs.
After RCB released him, Parthiv was lucky enough to hold the IPL trophy next year when he played for the Mumbai Indians. In the 2017 edition as well, he ended up being a part of the title-winning MI team.
Interestingly, Parthiv was also a part of the 2010 IPL winning Chennai Super Kings team. The Gujarat wicketkeeper has since rejoined RCB, playing for them since the 2018 season.
#2 Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar made his IPL debut playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008. He represented them for three successive years. In 2011 IPL, he joined the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala before RCB repurchased him for $1 million.
Kumar was at his best in IPL 2013 playing for RCB. Despite his incredible performances, RCB was unable to win the title.
He joined the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 IPL season and was also a part of the title-winning team. He was also part of the Mumbai squad in 2017 when they managed to win the title for the third time.
#1 Yuvraj Singh
India's World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh made his IPL debut playing for the Kings XI Punjab in 2008. He joined the Royal Challengers squad in 2014 after the Bangalore franchise purchased him for a whopping sum of 14 crores.
In the 2015 IPL auctions, Delhi Daredevils bagged the southpaw for a record 16 crores. In his fantastic career playing for India, Yuvraj won every big ICC tournament. The only trophy evading him was the IPL title.
A year later, in 2016, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, and it was only then that the swashbuckling left-hander was able to clinch his first IPL title. In the finals against RCB, he scored a quick 38 off 23 balls hitting two sixes.