IPL: 3 most underrated Royal Challengers Bangalore players of all time
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have flattered to deceive in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite some of the biggest names in T20 cricket history having been in their ranks, they are yet to lay their hands on the IPL trophy.
Incredible players such as Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Shane Watson, KL Rahul, and Mitchell Starc have all turned out for RCB, and have put in excellent performances each time they stepped onto the field.
Understandably, the franchise has come close to an IPL victory on three occasions. However, RCB lost to the Deccan Chargers, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL finals of 2009, 2011 and 2016 respectively.
RCB's underrated IPL players
Apart from the big names on the RCB roster, many lesser-known players have carved their name into the cricketing landscape. Cricketers like Manish Pandey, Harshal Patel, and Mohammed Siraj have shot into national recognition after their IPL performances for RCB.
In this article, we take a look at the 3 most underrated players in RCB history.
#1 R Vinay Kumar
RCB have never been known for their bowling line-ups, even with legends like Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble having played for them in the IPL at some point. In a team where quality Indian pacers have been hard to find, Vinay Kumar stands a cut above the rest.
Signed by RCB in the first-ever IPL in 2008, Vinay Kumar played 64 games for the franchise and picked up 72 wickets at an average of 25.31. After underwhelming seasons in 2008 and 2009, during which he picked up only 5 and 9 wickets respectively, he had a breakthrough campaign in 2010.
After picking up 16 wickets in the third edition of the IPL, the pacer was called up to the Indian squad for the 2010 T20 World Cup but played just one game. Despite the disappointing Indian campaign, Vinay Kumar was also called up to the ODI squad but never got an extended run of games.
The fast bowler was in and out of the ODI setup for 3 years and even played a solitary Test in 2012 against Australia, but has not featured for the national team since 2013. Vinay Kumar recently spoke of a desire to make a return to India, and cited the example of Ashish Nehra's comeback to the T20I squad.
However, with the stacked bowling resources at the disposal of the Men in Blue, we may have seen the last of Vinay Kumar his country's colours.
#2 Ross Taylor
Just like Vinay Kumar, Ross Taylor was snapped up by RCB in the first IPL Auction and turned out in the red and gold for three seasons. Over the course of 22 matches for RCB, he averaged 30.41 at a superb strike rate of 142.03.
While his stroke-play was often limited to the leg side, with the slog sweep being his usual course of action, Taylor was devastating when things clicked for him. Anil Kumble famously referred to him as a 'murderer of spinners' - high praise coming from India's greatest spinner of all time.
The middle-order batsman is largely remembered for his brutal 81 off just 33 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2009 edition of the IPL, but played many other crucial knocks at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Taylor is still an active cricketer for New Zealand and became the first batsman to play over a 100 games in all three formats of cricket in February 2020. Despite his excellent performances for the Blackcaps, he hasn't been part of an IPL side since featuring for the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) in 2014.
The 36-year-old is still going strong and it would be a disservice to put an IPL comeback past him.
#3 Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel has been a part of 6 IPL teams in his long career, the most recent one being RCB. After featuring for RCB in IPL 2014, he made a return to the franchise in 2018 to make an opening slot his own in a stacked RCB batting line-up that has boasted of captain Kohli, De Villiers, and Shane Watson.
In 32 matches for Bangalore, he has scored 731 runs at a strike rate of 130.07. He has also racked up 4 fifties, forming a decent opening partnership with Kohli. The diminutive wicket-keeper has also taken 21 catches and affected 3 stumpings, taking the unwanted responsibility of the gloves away from superstars like De Villiers.
Unfortunately, Patel hasn't been behind or in front of the stumps for India as frequently as he should have been, mostly due to the presence of the legendary MS Dhoni. Although he has made the Test squad on some occasions as a backup to the frequently injured Wriddhiman Saha, Patel hasn't fulfilled the potential he showed as a 17-year-old debutant in 2007.
With Dhoni now retired, Saha disappointing with the bat, and Rishabh Pant's presence in the team constantly questioned by critics, we could still see Patel play for India in the longest format of the game.
Also Read: 3 most underrated players in Mumbai Indians history