One such team that often find themselves spending a lot of money for their targets is Royal Challengers Bangalore. While they have made some shrewd buys, they have also broken their bank to get their men. Sometimes, the player ends up being overpriced and not used properly by the side before getting released after just one season because of different reasons.
Let us take a look at six instances when RCB committed blunders by spending more money on their players.
Kevin Pietersen ($1.55 million in 2009)
Without a doubt, former England captain Kevin Pietersen was one of the most destructive batsmen of his time and was always a hot commodity in the T20 format. After the ECB did not allow the Englishmen to be a part of the 2008 IPL, a lot of people were expecting Kevin Pietersen to fetch a huge amount in the 2009 IPL auction that had the English internationals taking part in it.
As expected, Pietersen was the most expensive player of the auction along with his teammate Andrew Flintoff as they were bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings respectively. He managed to play just six matches in the 2009 season in which he was awful for his side as he managed to score just 93 runs at an average of 15.5 and a strike-rate of 109. However, he redeemed himself the next season by scoring 236 runs in seven games at an average of 59 and a strike-rate of 150.
It was clearly mentioned that he won’t be a part of the whole season even before the auction and still, RCB paid a lot of money to land the superstar. He eventually ended up playing just 13 matches for them before he was released in 2011.
Saurabh Tiwary ($1.66 million in 2011)
Saurabh Tiwary might not have any IPL teams at the moment but he was one of the most sought-after players in the 2011 IPL auction.
After having a great 2010 season in which he scored 419 runs in 16 innings at an average of 30 and a strike-rate of over 135 for Mumbai Indians, Saurabh was released ahead of the 2011 auction and entered the auction pool. Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kings XI Punjab were involved in a fierce bidding with Royal Challengers Bangalore before the Bengaluru-based franchise won the bid for him at a whopping price of 1.66 million USD from a base price of 100,000 USD.
Unfortunately, Saurabh couldn’t repay the faith his team had in him as he managed to score just 487 runs in 40 matches for the franchise across three seasons, scoring only one fifty before he was eventually released in 2014.
Yuvraj Singh (14 crores INR in 2014)
Yuvraj Singh is one of the very few players who has done better in T20Is than the IPL. Yuvraj, the hero of India’s win in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup, has played for as many as five IPL franchises and could find his sixth franchise in the upcoming IPL auction.
After the termination of Sahara Pune Warriors, Yuvraj Singh entered the auction pool in the 2014 auction and went on to become the costliest player in the history of IPL as Royal Challengers Bangalore saw off threats from Kolkata Knight Riders and ended up buying him for 14 crores INR.
However, he couldn’t help RCB go all the way in 2014 and was released ahead of the 2015 IPL in a bid to free up the auction purse. In his season-long association with RCB, he scored 376 at an average of 34.18 and a strike-rate of 135. However, RCB would have regretted their decision to buy him such a huge amount and release him after just one season. In simple words, he earned 1 crore INR per match playing for them in the 2014 IPL.
Dinesh Karthik (10.5 crores INR in 2015)
After clearing up 14 crores INR in the 2015 IPL auction by releasing Yuvraj Singh, Royal Challengers Bangalore had a lot of money at their disposal in the auction and yet again, they wasted most of their money on a single player, this time, it was wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who was bought for 10.5 crores INR.
Unfortunately, Karthik couldn’t manage to be with the franchise for more than one season as he was released by them after a mediocre 2015 season that saw him score just 141 runs in 16 games at an average of just over 12 and a strike-rate of 120.
Shane Watson (9.5 crores INR in 2016)
Ahead of the 2016 IPL auction, no one expected Shane Watson to be the costliest player as he had already called it a day from international cricket a year back and there were better names in the pool when compared to the former Aussie international. But Royal Challengers Bangalore surprised everyone when they bought Shane Watson for a whopping 12.5 crores INR to make him the most expensive buy in the 2016 auction.
However, Watson’s time with Virat Kohli and co. turned out to be a nightmare as failed with the bat during his time with the franchise as he scored just 250 runs in 24 matches without scoring a century, numbers that are below-par for someone who has won the IPL’s MVP award on two occasions.
With the ball, he had a decent 2016 season in which he picked up 20 wickets and a poor 2017 season as he managed just five wickets in eight games at an average of close to 50. He was eventually released ahead of the 2018 IPL auction.
Tymal Mills (12 crores INR in 2017)
Yet another IPL auction, yet another blunder by Royal Challengers Bangalore! With Mitchell Starc ruled out of the 2017 IPL due to an injury he sustained ahead of the auction, RCB released him and went into the auction looking for a good replacement.
England pacer Tymal Mills was the flavour of the month back then as he had a good Big Bash League season followed by a successful T20I series against India. This prompted RCB to go after the left-arm seamer in the auction and eventually buy him for 12 crores INR by outbidding Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders.
He managed to play just five matches for Virat Kohli’s men that season and picked just five wickets at an average of over 30 and an economy of nearly 9. Ahead of the 2018 auction, he was released by RCB and went unsold in the auction.
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