9 Indian players who have played for both Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have been two of the most popular IPL franchises since the Indian Premier League's inception. While Royal Challengers Bangalore have not won in any of its 3 final appearances, Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have won 4 of the 5 finals they have played. Both the teams have shared a number of players in the last 11 years, which includes 9 Indian international players. They have also had a lot of common overseas players like Corey Anderson, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Tim Southee, to name a few.
We look at the 9 Indian international players that have played for both these franchises below.
(Note - This list only considers players who have represented India at the international level)
1. Robin Uthappa (Mumbai Indians - 2008, RCB- 2009-10)
Robin Uthappa started off his IPL career playing for the Mumbai Indians in the year 2008. He scored 277 runs for the Mumbai franchise in the 14 matches he played for them. The right-handed batsman had a strike rate of 113 and his highest score was 48.
In 2009, MI traded him to the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Being a native of Karnataka, Uthappa got a chance to play for his home franchise. Though he performed poorly in the 2009 season scoring just 175 runs in the 15 matches he played, his side finished the runners-up in South Africa.
The elegant right-hander improved his batting performance by leaps and bounds next season as he piled up 374 runs from the 16 matches he played. He had a blistering strike rate of 171 and also scored 3 fifties in the 2010 season, where the Royal Challengers took the 3rd place.
2. Dinesh Karthik (Mumbai Indians - 2012-13, RCB- 2015)
Dinesh Karthik who started his IPL career with the Delhi Daredevils, moved to the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise in 2012. Playing as a wicket-keeper batsman, Dinesh Karthik had a dismal 2012 season as he added 238 runs in the 17 matches he played at a poor average of 18.30.
Karthik also grabbed just 5 catches and effected 2 stumpings standing behind the stumps. However, the Tamil Nadu batsman returned in 2013 with an improved performance as he scored 510 runs in 19 matches with a highest score of 86. Behind the stumps, he took 12 catches and 2 stumpings.
After playing for the Delhi Daredevils in 2014, Karthik donned the RCB jersey in 2015. The 2015 season was the worst ever for DK as he could score only 141 runs in the 16 matches he represented the Bangalore franchise in. He failed to cross the 30-run mark even once in the entire season.
3. R Vinay Kumar (RCB - 2008-10, 2012-13, Mumbai Indians - 2015-17)
R Vinay Kumar began his career in the Indian Premier League playing for his home franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the first 3 seasons when he played for RCB, he picked up 30 wickets with 16 of them coming in the 3rd season before he moved to play for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala. After the ouster of the Kochi franchise, Vinay returned to Daniel Vettori's side and scalped 42 wickets in the next 2 seasons at an economy of 8.35.
After donning the KKR jersey in 2014, Vinay Kumar moved to the Mumbai Indians in 2015 where he was used as the team's second pacer. He failed miserably in his first season for Mumbai as he could pick up only 7 wickets in 13 matches. This led to Kumar's limited appearances in the MI playing XI for the next 2 seasons before the franchise decided to release him.
4. Zaheer Khan (RCB - 2008, 2011-13, Mumbai Indians- 2009-10, 2014)
Zaheer Khan, the Indian left arm fast bowler started his IPL career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and picked up 13 wickets for them in 11 matches before being traded to the Mumbai Indians for the next season. Khan scalped 21 wickets for MI in 2 seasons in the 20 matches he played for the franchise and returned to RCB in 2011.
Zak stayed with the Bangalore franchise for 3 years and picked up 36 wickets in the time period, which also included his career best performance of 4/17 in the 2013 season. He then represented MI again in the 2014 season but could only play 6 matches for them where he took 5 wickets for the franchise. MI released him before the auction as DD picked the left arm pacer next year.
5. RP Singh (Mumbai Indians - 2012, RCB - 2013)
RP Singh was involved in the 2012 IPL auction after his 2011 franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala went defunct. Mumbai Indians picked the experienced Indian fast bowler and Singh had a decent outing in the 2012 season as he scalped 10 wickets in 11 matches and had a best performance of 3/28. However, Mumbai Indians decided not to retain him and released him before the auctions.
Royal Challengers Bangalore became RP Singh's next team as the Bangalore franchise snapped the left-arm pacer at the auctions. He improved on his 2012 performance as in the sixth edition of IPL he picked 13 wickets in the 11 matches he donned the red jersey at an economy rate of 8.41. RP Singh went unsold in the next two auctions before Rising Pune Supergiants signed him for the 2016 season.
6. Manish Pandey (Mumbai Indians - 2008, RCB - 2009-10)
The-then India U-19 star Manish Pandey was signed by the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural season of the IPL. Though Pandey got fewer opportunities, his dismal performances led to MI trading him to Royal Challengers Bangalore before the second season. Pandey scored only 3 runs in the 3 matches he played for Mumbai Indians.
However, Manish Pandey grabbed everyone's attention when he became the first Indian player to score an IPL hundred. Manish Pandey, till date is the only Indian player to score an IPL century in South Africa. Pandey continued his phenomenal form in the 2010 season as he scored 249 runs for RCB in the 13 matches he played. Manish Pandey, since leaving RCB, has played for Pune Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
7. Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai Indians - 2008-10, 2017-18, 2020-present, RCB - 2011-13)
Saurabh Tiwary grabbed eyeballs after his epic performances for Mumbai Indians in the 2010 season. Despite being with the franchise for the first 2 seasons, the player from Jharkhand did not get enough opportunities. But such was Tiwary's batting in the 2010 season that he earned his first Indian international cap riding on that performance. Tiwary scored 419 runs in 16 matches for his team and even led them to their first ever IPL final.
RCB snapped him in the 2011 auction at a huge price. However Tiwary could not repeat his magic as he could not aggregate even 200 runs in any of the 3 seasons he represented the RCB franchise. He could score only one 50+ score for the team in his 3-year stay.
8. Parthiv Patel (RCB - 2014, 2018-present, Mumbai Indians - 2015-17)
After playing for 4 franchises in 6 years, Parthiv Patel made RCB his 5th franchise in 2014. The baby-faced wicket-keeper batsman from Gujarat had a decent IPL in 2014 as he piled up 205 runs for his team with a best performance of 57*. He even took 11 catches standing behind the stumps yet RCB released him before the IPL Player Auction 2015.
Mumbai Indians purchased Patel in the auction and the Gujarati player stayed with the MI franchise for 3 years. He amassed 300+ runs in 2 seasons and grabbed 22 catches in the 40 matches he played for the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise. Parthiv's improved performance tempted RCB to buy him again in the 2018 player auction.
9. Yuzvendra Chahal (Mumbai Indians - 2011-13, RCB - 2014-present)
Yuzvendra Chahal played only 1 match for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League but the youngster played an integral role in his team's CLT20 triumph in 2011. His 2/9 in the tournament's final against the Royal Challengers seemed to impress them as the franchise snapped the former chess player in the IPL auction of 2014.
Chahal has since then been a cornerstone of the Bangalore franchise. Yuzvendra Chahal has scalped 70 wickets for RCB in his career with 23 of them coming in the 2015 season. The player from Haryana picked up 12 wickets in the 2018 IPL and was one of the leading wicket takers of his team.
The leggie is currently one of the best spinners in the country as he has continued to deliver the goods for his nation donning the international jersey.