IPL: 3 great T20 players who flopped for RCB
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been home to some of the greatest T20 players of all time in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Over the years, legends like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have plied their trade at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Great T20 players who flopped for RCB in the IPL
However, under captain Virat Kohli, many excellent cricketers have failed to fulfil their obvious potential.
Due to inconsistent selection and players being played out of position, RCB have all but wasted the services of some great T20 players. Unfortunately, some of these players also donned the Red and Gold when they were clearly past their prime.
In this article, we take a look at 3 great T20 players who flopped for RCB in the IPL.
Also Read: 3 great T20 players who flopped for MI in the IPL
#3 Brendon McCullum
RCB was the last franchise that the electric Brendon McCullum played for in the IPL. After smashing a whirlwind 158* in the first-ever IPL game against the same opposition, life had almost come full circle for the former New Zealand captain.
However, at RCB, McCullum didn't experience the same success he did at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or the Gujarat Lions. The aggressive opener scored 841 runs for MS Dhoni's side in 28 games, but at RCB, he scored only 127 runs in 6 innings at an average of 21.17.
McCullum was definitely past his prime when he turned out for RCB but was still expected to be a regular fixture in the XI after being bought for 3.6 crore INR in the auction. In an excerpt from the book Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, the 38-year-old touched upon the differences between the two sides. He said -
"One team gives selection loyalty and works on the team they have; the other chases a perfect team and doesn’t have a blueprint for how they are going to play. CSK has very little “white noise” around them, RCB have too much."
#2 Albie Morkel
Albie Morkel is one of CSK's best all-rounders of all time and in 78 matches for the Men in Yellow over 6 years, he scored 827 runs at a strike rate of 144.83 and picked up 76 wickets as well. When he entered the auction ahead of the 2014 IPL, he fetched 2.6 crore INR and was expected to finally satisfy RCB's requirements for a pace-bowling all-rounder.
The South African's potent out-swingers and handy lower-order batting had won many a match for CSK, and RCB skipper Virat Kohli had experienced it first-hand when he had been hit for 28 runs in the penultimate over of a game by Morkel. However, Morkel played only 7 games for RCB in the IPL, and scored a mere 45 runs along with 4 wickets with the ball.Â
RCB are yet to find an adequate all-rounder of the mould of Morkel, with Colin de Grandhomme and Shivam Dube tried unsuccessfully in the role. Had the 39-year-old fired for Kohli's side, they might just have ended their wait for an IPL title by now.
#1 Shane Watson
The most recent example of a great T20 player not reaching the heights he is capable of at RCB, Shane Watson wasn't as bad as the other players on this list. He dazzled with the ball after being signed for 9.5 crore INR ahead of the 2016 IPL, a season in which he picked up as many as 20 wickets.
However, his abysmal next season and his recent success with CSK find him at #1 on this list. In the 2017 IPL, the Australian scored only 67 runs and picked up only 5 wickets, and both his batting and bowling averages were the worst they have ever been in a season.
The 39-year-old had a time to forget in Bangalore, and speaking after the disastrous season in which RCB finished dead last on the points table after the league stage, he said -
"And then the IPL that's what I've been exposed to since 2008 being someone who the team relies on and you have to perform. And it doesn't always work out that you perform. You certainly don't perform every game. And this year, for me personally, has been my worst IPL I've ever had."
While most critics assumed that Watson's advancing age was the reason behind his failures, he has gone on to become one of CSK's most important players, and has played crucial knocks in the IPL finals of 2018 and 2019.
The all-rounder was a mainstay for RR and is a key component of CSK, so quite why he failed at RCB is still a mystery. Perhaps the most sensible explanation is that RCB used him in the middle-order, while CSK and RR let the batsman in Watson express himself against the new ball.