The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are among the handful of IPL teams that are yet to win an IPL title. They may not have had much glory in the IPL, but they are undoubtedly one of the most famous teams in the competition.
Over the years, RCB has had some of the superstars of the sport appear for them in the tournament, and their exploits have amazed the spectators.
The RCB’s management have altered their squad a lot throughout the years, but they haven’t been able to find the perfect combination and make it all the way to the title. They’ve also changed their captaincy a few times, but their luck hasn’t altered. In 14 years, RCB have had six players to lead the side, but none of them had tasted success yet.
On that note, let’s take a look at all the six players who have captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
1. Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid led the Royal Challengers Bangalore side in the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008. He had a dismal start to his campaign as RCB lost the opening match of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders by 140 runs.
Dravid went on to lead the side for 14 matches in the season, but didn’t find much success, as he only managed to win four matches to finish seventh on the points table.
2. Kevin Pietersen
After a disappointing run in the first edition of the IPL, RCB management handed over the captaincy to England star Kevin Pietersen for IPL 2009 in hopes to turn the tables around. However, results didn’t go RCB’s way as they only managed to win two games out of six under Pietersen’s leadership.
Pietersen’s exit from the tournament after six matches due to international commitments saw RCB handing over the reigns to Anil Kumble, who fared pretty well for them.
3. Anil Kumble
As mentioned earlier, Anil Kumble was appointed as the skipper of RCB midway in IPL 2009 after Pietersen left the tournament to commit to international duties. RCB had won only two matches before Kumble’s arrival as a captain and were struggling to perform that season.
However, Kumble turned things around for them as he guided them to their maiden IPL finals. Unfortunately, RCB lost against Deccan Charges to end as runner-ups, followed by another playoff qualification in 2010.
Kumble did pretty well for RCB as a captain, winning 19 games out of the 35 matches and guiding them towards two consecutive knockout appearances.
4. Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori captained the RCB side in the 2011 and 2012 seasons of the IPL. Vettori did a decent job for the Bangalore-based franchise, leading them to 15 wins in 28 games across two seasons.
He even led them to their second IPL final in the 2011 edition, where they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the last hurdle. Vettori also served as the head of RCB from 2014-2018.
5. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, the present skipper of RCB, took over as captain in 2013. In fact, he filled in for Daniel Vettori for a handful of games in IPL 2012, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he became the permanent captain of the team.
RCB made it to the 2016 IPL final under his leadership, but unfortunately lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kohli had a memorable season that year, scoring 973 runs including four centuries, and also broke several records.
Under Kohli, RCB has reached the IPL playoffs three times, but has only been in one final. He has captained RCB in 125 matches, winning 55 of those, and would look to better his record.
6. Shane Watson
Shane Watson is one of the most experienced players in the game and has represented RCB in the 2016 and 2017 seasons of the IPL. In the absence of senior players Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers due to injuries, Watson was handed over the reins for the first three matches of the 2017 IPL.
Watson had a mediocre record as a leader, as he managed to grab only a sole victory and was removed from the role after the arrival of Kohli.
