A comprehensive list of every captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru until Faf du Plessis, the latest of the RCB skippers.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) remain one of the most popular teams in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Although the men’s team is yet to get their hands on the IPL trophy, they have a strong fanbase. A lot is expected of them after the women’s team, led by Smriti Mandhana, recently won the Women’s Premier League (WPL) after beating Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
RCB men have had several high-profile cricketers over the years. They have also played 3 finals in the IPL in 2009, 2011 and 2016 and every time they stuttered at the finishing hurdle. They lost to defunct Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL finals.
Leading wicket taker for each IPL team
Contents
Every captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru – List of all RCB skippers
| Player | Span |
| Rahul Dravid | 2008 |
| Kevin Pietersen | 2009 |
| Anil Kumble | 2009-10 |
| Daniel Vettori | 2011-12 |
| Virat Kohli | 2011-23 |
| Shane Watson | 2017 |
| Faf du Plessis | 2022-24 |
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid captained RCB in the 2009 edition of the T20 league and he did not find it easy by any stretch of the imagination. In 14 matches, Dravid led the team to wins in only 4 matches while losing 10. The Challengers had a terrible time in the inaugural season after the finished seventh in the table with 8 points and a net run rate of -1.160.
After losing to the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders by 140 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB could never turn their fortunes around in the championship.
In 52 matches for the Challengers from 2008 to 2010, Dravid racked up 1132 runs at an average of 28.3 and a strike-rate of 119.66 with 5 half-centuries and a top score of 75 not out to show for his efforts. Later, Dravid played a couple of seasons for Rajasthan Royals before retiring.
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen captained the Bengaluru team in 6 matches back in 2009. However, the Challengers won only 2 matches under his captaincy and lost 4. Pietersen played 2 seasons for RCB and scored 329 runs from 13 matches at an average of 32.9 and a strike-rate of 135.95 with 2 half-centuries and a top score of 66 not out to his name.
In 36 IPL matches in his career from 2009 to 2016, Pietersen scored 1001 runs at an average of 37.07 and a strike-rate of 134.72. In 2012, Pietersen got his top score in the IPL after he scored 103 off 64 balls for the Delhi Capitals in their match against Deccan Chargers at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi.
Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble captained the Bengaluru team in 35 matches from 2009 to 2010. Out of them, RCB won 19 matches and lost 16. Under his leadership, RCB made it through to the final of IPL 2009 where they lost to Adam Gilchrist Chargers by 6 runs at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
However, Kumble won the Player of the Match award in the final after he finished with figures of 4-0-16-4. In 51 matches for the Challengers, he picked up 53 wickets at an economy rate of 6.65 with 2 four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket haul to his name.
Kumble, India’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 953 scalps, got his best figures of 3.1-1-5-5 against the Rajasthan Royals back in 2009 at the Newlands in Cape Town.
EIGHTH hundred for Virat Kohli in the IPL 👑
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 6, 2024
T20 Cricket or Test or ODI: 1️⃣ G.O.A.T 🐐#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 #RRvRCB @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/hc5sHqBatO
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori captained RCB in 28 matches from 2011 to 2012. Out of them, RCB won 15 games and lost 13. In 2011, Vettori replaced the legendary Kumble as the skipper of the franchise. Vettori led them to the final where the challengers lost to CSK by 58 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
In 2012, RCB could not qualify for the playoffs after they finished fifth in the table with 17 points and a net run rate of -0.222 thanks to wins in 8 out of 16 games. In 28 games for RCB, Vettori picked up 24 wickets at an economy rate of 6.45.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli replaced Daniel Vettori as the skipper of the Challengers back in 2013. He stayed as the skipper of the team until the 2021 edition before stepping down from his position. Under his leadership, RCB won 66 out of 143 matches and lost 70. 3 matches ended in ties.
Under his captaincy, RCB qualified for the final in 2016 where they lost to David Warner’s Sunrisers at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In that season, he scored 4 hundreds and made the record for the most runs (973) runs in a single edition of the tournament.
Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in the history of the IPL. Recently, he became the first batter in the IPL to score 7500 runs in the IPL. Overall, he also notched 8000 runs in all T20 matches. At the age of 35, Kohli is going great guns and still has a few years of cricket left in him.
Shane Watson
Shane Watson captained the RCB team in 3 matches in 2017. Out of them, RCB lost 2 matches while they won only once. In 24 matches for the Challengers, he scored 250 runs at an average of 13.15 and a strike-rate of 117.92 with a top score of 36 to his name.
Watson also accounted for 25 scalps for RCB at an economy rate of 8.76 with a 4-wicket haul to his name. In 145 IPL matches in his career, Watson scored 3874 runs at an average of 30.99 and picked up 92 wickets at an economy rate of 7.93.\
Players with most ducks in IPL
Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis took over from Virat Kohli as the RCB team in the 2022 edition of the T20 league. After some prolific seasons with the Super Kings, du Plessis made a move to the Challengers. In IPL 2022, RCB qualified for the playoffs, but lost to Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in the Qualifier 2. In 2023, Du Plessis could not take the Challengers beyond the league stage.
