Royal Challengers Bangalore have reached the final three times but have failed to cross the final hurdle on each of the three occasions. They are one of the three teams who haven’t won the IPL trophy even once. As a franchise, if you don’t win the tournament for a while you tend to change your captain time and again. Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals are in the same boat as they too have changed their captains a lot of times.
RCB has had fewer captains compared to these two teams. In 13 years, they have had six captains, so let’s have a look at the six players who have captained RCB.
6. Shane Watson
Shane Watson was a part of the RCB squad for the 2016 and 2017 IPL. At the start of the 2017 season, both Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers missed the first three games as both were injured. Shane Watson was the senior member of the team and hence he was handed over the captaincy for three games.
It is difficult for any team to win if your key players – Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers are missing but still, they won one game out of the first three under the captaincy of Shane Watson. Shane Watson might not be a permanent captain for RCB, but he has captained the franchise.
5. Kevin Pietersen
The flamboyant England batsman was part of the RCB team in the initial years. He captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 when the IPL was held in South Africa. He was the captain in six games, but the results didn’t go his way as RCB lost four and won only two in those six.
The former England player has captained one more franchise in the IPL apart from RCB i.e. Delhi Capitals.
4. Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid who was also known as the Wall was the icon player of the Royal Challengers Bangalore when the IPL started way back in 2008. He was also the skipper of this new franchise. He had never played T20 cricket at the international level and had no idea about what to expect.
Under his captaincy, RCB got thrashed in the opening game as Brendon McCullum played the innings of his life. He captained in all the 14 games out of which RCB managed to win only four. He wasn’t the captain of the franchise in the next season.
3. Daniel Vettori
After Kevin Pietersen, Daniel Vettori was the second overseas player to captain RCB. He was the captain in 2011 and 2012 when Chris Gayle was at his best. RCB managed to win 12 out of the 22 games which is a good record in the shortest format. He later even coached the RCB franchise in 2018 and 2019.
2. Anil Kumble
The Indian leg-spinner who is the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests captained RCB in 2009 and 2010. It was under his captaincy when RCB reached the finals in 2009 and lost to Deccan Chargers in a tight contest.
He captained in 26 games and RCB lost only 11 out of those. He was a good captain who helped to get the best out of his players. Anil Kumble currently is coaching the Kings XI Punjab in this year’s IPL.
1. Virat Kohli
When we talk about RCB, we talk about Virat Kohli because RCB has become Virat Kohli’s team. He recently played 200 games for RCB (IPL and CLT20) and he has captained the franchise for over 100 games.
His captaincy has been criticized time and again and a part of that criticism is because they haven’t lifted the trophy yet. He has captained RCB in 118 games and his winning percentage is 47.80%. Virat Kohli will look to improve on that number in the upcoming seasons. RCB are looking in a good position this season and might as well go all the way.
