RCB's playing 11 from Ross Taylor's IPL debut - where are they now?

New Zealand legend Ross Taylor, who bid goodbye to international cricket in 2022, was also a major feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. He celebrates his 40th birthday today.

Taylor made his debut for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 2008 season in their second game against the Mumbai Indians.

After being belted by Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening encounter, RCB were keen on getting a positive result in the second game. Skippers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar came up against each other, and it was a game meant for the stars.

Taylor, having been handed his debut, scored a brisk 23 off just 12 balls, which included two sixes and a boundary. Set a target of 166, Bangalore chased it down comfortably with five wickets to spare to open their account.

In this piece, we take a look at the players who were a part of the RCB XI alongside Taylor in that game against Mumbai Indians.

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Openers and middle-order batters

Rahul Dravid is India's head coach.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Rahul Dravid, who opened the innings for RCB in that game, retired from the game a long time ago. While Dravid is currently India's head coach, little is known of Chanderpaul's whereabouts.

The latter played first-class and List-A cricket for a long time after he had called it a day from international games. Now, his son Tagenarine is making ripples across the world for opening the innings for the Windies.

Jacques Kallis, who came in at No.4 after Taylor at three, too, has retired from the sport, although he has tried his hand at coaching. He has coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, as well as being a consultant for South Africa and England.

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Lower-order, wicketkeeper and spinners

Virat Kohli is one of the finest, if not the finest batters in the world at the moment.

A young Virat Kohli, who came in after Kallis, is perhaps the finest batter in the world at the moment. He recently made headlines for taking time out of India's ongoing series against England at home to attend the birth of his second child.

Kohli's absence has opened up space for several debutants such as Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Rajat Patidar throughout the series.

Wicketkeeper-batter Mark Boucher, who came in after Kohli in that game, is also happily retired from the game and coaches Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He has also coached the South African national team in the past.

Karnataka stalwart Balachandra Akhil, coming in after Boucher, has also retired from cricket. He was a more than handy fast-bowling all-rounder for the state as well as RCB in the IPL.

Left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, another Karnataka stalwart, coached Hyderabad in domestic cricket later on in his career and was instrumental in leading them back into the Ranji Trophy Elite group after their fall from grace against Rajasthan (21 all out) in 2010.

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Fast bowlers

Zaheer Khan is a pundit on television these days.

RCB played the Indian pace trio of Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, and Praveen Kumar in that game against Mumbai Indians. All three of these bowlers have now retired from the game, with Vinay donning the commentator's role for several domestic and regional matches.

Zaheer, having called it a day after picking up 311 wickets in Test cricket, is seen as a pundit on television these days. His piercing analysis of the game marks him out from his colleagues.

Praveen is perhaps the only player in this trio about whom little apart from his troubles is known. A lot is made of the former UP seamer's battles with alcoholism and depression and one wishes him well in his recovery.