3 players Royal Challengers Bangalore should try to get in IPL trade
Royal Challengers Bangalore, the star-studded IPL franchise led by India’s captain Virat Kohli, has always under-performed in the Indian Premier League. They have had the strongest of the squads most years but the team does not generate any momentum when the season begins. The Bangalore-based franchise wins games in the second phase of the tournament but, ultimately does not win big.
In the 12 seasons of IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore have played the IPL final thrice, losing all three of them. Virat Kohli’s men would look to turn things around in season 13 of the tournament and the team management will try to solve the problems in their team combination during the pre-season trade window.
Also, Royal Challengers Bangalore should focus to bring in some value-for-money players in the squad instead of trying to sign a big name.
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have already exercised their trade right. Given that RCB had finished last in the points table of VIVO IPL 2019, the fans can expect them to acquire some players in the IPL trade. Here are the 3 players that RCB must target.
#3 Moises Henriques (from Kings XI Punjab)
Portugal-born all-rounder, Moises Henriques had a forgettable IPL season in 2019 thanks to his injury issues. The Australian international was a part of the Kings XI Punjab squad but, injury did not allow him to play a single match. The team had included him in the playing XI for one of the matches however, a last-minute injury kept him out.
The Mohali-based franchise already has a strong foreign contingent featuring the likes of Chris Gayle, Sam Curran, Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Andrew Tye and Hardus Viljoen. Moises Henriques felt like a surplus in that camp however, the Royal Challengers Bangalore can utilize his services well.
They need a quality all-rounder who can bat as per the situation of the game besides bowling some crucial overs in the middle. Henriques has an experience of 57 IPL matches where he has aggregated nearly 1,000 runs and taken 38 wickets. Hence, the Australian would be a valuable addition to RCB’s squad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore's two all-rounders Shivam Dubey and Colin de Grandhomme suffered from poor form in IPL 2019. Dubey, who was bought at a hefty price of ₹5 crores could make it to the playing XI in only 4 matches where he scored a total 40 runs. Given that RCB had invested so much in the all-rounder, a lot was expected from him.
The same was the case with New Zealand's Colin de Grandhomme who performed well in the 2019 Cricket World Cup but it needs to be taken into account that the World Cup took place in English conditions which favor a player like de Grandhomme. In the IPL season played prior to the World Cup, de Grandhomme had scored 55 runs in 4 matches at an underwhelming strike rate of 93.87. Also, he conceded runs at a hammering economy rate of 11 in the 4 games.
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