Royal Challengers Bangalore's 5 most expensive auction buys

When Vijay Mallya acquired an IPL franchise back in 2008, you just knew it would be ‘box office’. Built in the owner’s image, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have dazzled since the inception of the IPL with an array of stars and host of celebrities at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The very first edition of the IPL proved to be a damn squib for the RCB when they finished close to the bottom of the table, and even though they bounced back to finish runners-up in the second edition, it wasn’t until 2011, when they decided to retain only Virat Kohli, did they emerge as top performers.

Over the years, the RCB have been one of the biggest spenders and haven’t been shy in splashing the cash on stars they want to acquire.

If you need any validation of the fact that they are big spenders, you must take a look at the IPL’s most expensive buys ever, where they feature thrice in the Top-15.

Here are RCB’s most expensive buys in IPL history –

#5 Kevin Pietersen – 2009 – $1.55 Million

Kevin Pietersen was acquired at a stage when he was one of the hottest properties in world cricket. After having become a breakthrough star during the 2005 Ashes, the English batsman had gained quite a reputation for his natural stroke-making ability.

During the 2009 auction, the team management had come with a single point agenda to acquire KP and were willing to go to any limit to secure his services. He had a poor debut season where he only managed to score 93 runs in total but would bounce back with a sensational 2010 where he scored 236 runs at an average of 59.

Despite having fallen out with the England cricket board, he continues to be one of the most popular cricketers on the planet but won’t be seen in action in 2017’s IPL after he pulled out ahead of the auction.