Royal Challengers Bangalore are infamous for their tendency to release good quality cricketers. At times, this has come to haunt them back, with the released cricketers performing well against the franchise. A few players who were released by RCB have also gone and captained a different side in IPL. In this article, we take a look at five popular players released by RCB who later went on to captain a different side in IPL.
1) KL Rahul – Punjab Kings
KL Rahul is one of the popular players released by RCB who later went on to captain a different side in IPL. The release of KL Rahul is considered one of the most unproductive decisions by RCB in the history of the franchise. RCB instead retained Sarfraz Khan before IPL 2018 and the move was a massive failure.
Apart from being a top-scoring cricketer, KL Rahul has also become a captain of an IPL side after his exit from RCB. The Karnataka player took up the captaincy mantle of Punjab Kings in IPL 2020. Although the team has struggled to qualify for the playoffs, KL’s captaincy skills have been decent.
2) Zaheer Khan – Delhi Capitals
Between 2016 and 2017, former India pacer Zaheer Khan captained Delhi Capitals in 23 encounters. The franchise had a young team and hence, the veteran was chosen as the captain. He had a disappointing run as he could help the team win only ten games.
RCB had Zaheer on its payroll in two stints. While the left-arm pacer played for the franchise in 2008, he was also part of the team between 2011 and 2013. Hence, he is part of this list of players released by RCB who later went on to captain a different side in IPL.
3) Dinesh Karthik – Kolkata Knight Riders
Dinesh Karthik was one of the high-profile purchases by RCB for IPL 2015. The player was in good form and since RCB needed an Indian batsman, they hired him. However, DK did not do justice to his price tag and was subsequently released by the franchise.
In 2018, DK took over as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. He led the team for 37 games before being replaced by Eoin Morgan at the helm of affairs. The Tamil Nadu player is still a vital part of the franchise.
4) Eoin Morgan – Kolkata Knight Riders
English skipper Eoin Morgan made his IPL debut as an RCB player. He was part of the franchise in the 2010 edition. Morgan did not get many chances, and he was later released by the team.
After featuring for a few other teams, Eoin Morgan joined KKR in 2020. He took over Dinesh Karthik midway as the skipper of the franchise. The World Cup-winning captain is currently leading the team in IPL 2021. He has made a few debatable decisions, but has largely been satisfactory as the captain.
5) Mayank Agarwal – Punjab Kings
Rahul Dravid is a prime example of RCB cricketers who led a different team. However, he has also captained RCB and hence, we do not have him on this list. Instead, Dravid’s Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarwal is part of it.
Mayank has captained Punjab Kings in one game so far when KL Rahul was absent. Although he did not find success with the role, he had a good game as a batsman. With two new teams coming up in IPL 2022, Mayank could turn out to be a decent captaincy candidate for one of the franchises. This is assuming that Punjab Kings would let go of him.
