3 expensive RCB signings who failed ft. Kevin Pietersen

Big-money signings are looked at a bit differently in football leagues and the IPL. In the Premier League, for example, the $100 million signings are seen with enthusiasm and as a show of strength from the club. In the IPL, everything above ₹15 crore is frowned upon and considered foolishness.

The same applies to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)'s reported trade of Cameron Green from Mumbai Indians for a whopping ₹17.50 crore.

The move looks excessive for a lot of reasons. The simplest of those is - Mumbai Indians gave up Green to get Hardik Pandya for around ₹15 crore. The five-time champions got a more experienced all-rounder, a future captain, and a sure-shot starter when fit who, unlike Green, won't even take up an overseas spot, for a cheaper price.

It's even more worrying because it's RCB. Such massive headline signings, on auctions or in trades, haven't usually gone well for the franchise.

On that note, below are three examples of RCB players with big price tags who failed to live up to expectations:

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#3 Kyle Jamieson

Most of this article will raise one question - what do you consider a failure? It's not having the expected impact (the effect that the franchise saw before signing which couldn't be replicated) and an inability to justify the price tag.

New Zealand's pace-bowling all-rounder Kyle Jamieson was the most recent such signing for RCB. They got him in IPL 2021 for ₹15 crore - the most for a New Zealander and at that time, the fourth-costliest signing in the history of the IPL.

The lanky pacer had not played a lot of T20I cricket in the leadup to the auction but had put up some impressive Test performances. He was still expected to lead the bowling attack while also contributing a bit with the bat.

But his outing was average. Jamieson struggled with injuries throughout the season and didn't play all matches. From nine games, he picked up nine wickets at 29.89 and scored 65 runs in seven batting opportunities.

He picked up important wickets at the start of the season and even bowled his best spell of 3/41 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his third match. But the Kiwi ended his season with back-to-back wicketless spells with economy rates of over nine.

Jamieson pulled out of the next season of IPL for personal reasons. Chennai Super Kings signed him for IPL 2023 but he couldn't feature again due to injuries and was released ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.

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#2 Kevin Pietersen

RCB signed Kevin Pietersen in 2009 for ₹9.8 crore, the most expensive IPL signing at that time. The franchise's owner Vijay Mallya felt the England batter's arrival would help the team shed off the 'Test team' criticism from IPL 2008. They also made him the team captain in Rahul Dravid's absence due to family reasons.

But Pietersen had the worst possible start to his IPL career. In six matches, he scored just 93 runs at an average of 15.50 and a strike rate of 109.41. He left the team mid-way due to international commitments and Anil Kumble took over the captaincy. The franchise made it to the final but lost to Deccan Chargers.

The explosive batter had a much better second season - 236 runs from seven matches - but it was still not enough for the franchise to go past the playoffs. He moved on to Delhi Daredevils (now called Delhi Capitals) in 2012.

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#1 Tymal Mills

Tymal Mills in 2017 was a Jamieson-like signing for RCB. They got the Englishman for ₹12 crore after seeing his impressive performances against India in a T20I series just before the auction. He picked up just three wickets in three matches in the series but displayed some high-paced bowling mixed with deceptive variations.

At IPL, they probably expected these skills to come in handy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But it just never worked out. He played only five matches in the season, picking up five wickets at an average of 30.60. Mills first pulled his hamstring and then suffered a strained back which forced him to miss a handful of matches.

The franchise finished at the bottom of the points table. RCB released him after the season and he went unsold in the IPL 2018 auction.