'It's all about Kohli, De Villiers, & Gayle': Parthiv recalls RCB stint, says 'team always about individuals'

Parthiv Patel recalled his stint at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and lashed out at the team management for their starry culture, where they have always given preferance to some big names -- such as Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle -- and not created a team culture. The former Indian stumper, who has been part of several IPL teams during his playing days, was associated with the RCB in 2014 and rejoined them from 2018-2020. During his first stint with the RCB, Kohli, ABD and Gayle were the main players for the franchise whereas the West Indian wasn't part of the camp during Patel's second stopping from 2018 to 2020.

'Kohli, ABD and Gaylewere given special preference so the team culture was not there'

Speaking on Cyrus Says Podcast, Parthivrecalled his RCB stints and said, "I played for RCB, I've have been there for four years. The team is always about individuals it's not about the team. And then everyone will come out of that team will say that. Because it's all about Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Chris Gayle when I was in the team. So they were given the kind of special preference always so there the team culture was not there you can see clearly when they are playing, and that is the reason why they haven't won the trophies. That's the fact."

Parthiv amassed 526 runs in 20 matches overall for the RCB franchise. During his RCB stint, the franchise only made it to the playoffs in 2020 (when he didn't find a spot in the playing XI throughout the season).

Talking about Kohli, ABD and Gayle, the trio remain RCB's highest run-getters. Kohli tops the chart with 8,428 runs, followed by De Villiers (4,500) and Gayle (3,420). At present, Kohli remains a part of the RCB line-up -- with Gayle being out of IPL and De Villiers retiring in 2021. The Indian star batter ended with 741 runs in IPL 2024 with the Faf du Plessis-led RCB side ending fourth in this year's edition.