IPL: 3 Indian cricketers who owe their careers to RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) haven't exactly been a breeding ground for young talents in the Indian Premier League (IPL). With questionable recruitment and retention policies over the years, all three IPL finals they have reached have ended in crushing disappointments.

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Indian cricketers RCB have groomed in the IPL

However, RCB have unearthed a few Indian gems over the years.

Manish Pandey made a name for himself in the early editions of the IPL at RCB, and became the first Indian to score a century in the cash-rich league. Sarfaraz Khan dazzled audiences all across the world with his cheeky strokeplay and incredible ability at the fag ends of innings.

More recently, Mohammed Siraj shot into national reckoning after featuring for RCB in the IPL. Umesh Yadav revitalised himself in Bangalore and his performances for India improved drastically.

In this article, we take a look at 3 Indian cricketers who owe their careers to RCB.

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#3 Navdeep Saini

Navdeep Saini is part of a new generation of express Indian pacers

Navdeep Saini has been in and around the Indian team for many years now, making consistent appearances for the A sides. But the past 2 years at RCB under Indian captain Virat Kohli have catapulted him to the national side, and he has featured in 5 ODIs and 10 T20Is for the Men in Blue.

With tearaway pace and a potent yorker, Saini has all the makings of a great fast bowler. Although he has played only 13 IPL games for RCB and it might be a bit early to say that he owes his career to the team, he has the perfect captain for fast bowlers to play under.

With Kohli expected to lead both teams for many years ahead, we could see the speedster become one of India's prime strike bowlers. Saini is 27 years old and his prime would have passed him by had he not been picked and given opportunities by RCB in the IPL.

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#2 Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal is allowed to be his attacking best for RCB in the IPL

Yuzvendra Chahal is now a regular in the Indian ODI and T20I sides and the primary reason behind this is his success under Virat Kohli for RCB in the IPL.

More than Kohli himself, though, his excellent record in the IPL is down to the absence of other quality bowlers in the RCB side, leaving the leg-spinner the task of bowling at all the difficult stages of the innings and thereby picking up wickets.

Chahal has also been aided by the short boundaries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with him being at his best when the batsmen look to take him on. For RCB, the 29-year-old has played 84 games and picked up 100 wickets at an economy rate of 7.78.

For India, the Haryana bowler is closing in on 100 matches and owes a large part of his international career to his IPL franchise.

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#1 Virat Kohli

RCB captain Virat Kohli has to thank the team for the faith he was shown in the early part of his career

Indian captain Virat Kohli is the face of RCB, so his inclusion in this list shouldn't come as a surprise to many. After Delhi Daredevils passed on the 2008 U-19 World Cup-winning captain in the inaugural IPL auction, RCB snaffled the youngster in their best move in history.

In 177 matches for RCB in the IPL, one of the few one-club-men in the league has scored 5,412 runs and is the leading run-getter in tournament history. His India records don't even need to be mentioned - such is the stature of the greatest batsman of the modern era.

Virat Kohli was afforded multiple opportunities at his preferred batting positions despite indifferent initial seasons and although the RCB skipper would have probably made it on the international level anyway, his rise might not have been as rapid. Under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and Daniel Vettori in the early IPL seasons, Kohli was also groomed for a leadership role right from the outset.

Had Kohli not played for and captained RCB in the IPL, the situation at the Indian cricket team might look very different at the moment.

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