IPL 2018 Auction: Decoding RCB's picks on Day 1 and their plan of action for the rest of the auction
As the clock struck half-past nine today, the cricket fraternity waited with baited breath for the auctions to begin, with more than 500 players set to go under the hammer ahead of the 11th season of the IPL.
The first day of the auctions witnessed some intense bidding which saw a total of 78 players being sold out of 110 players auctioned on the day. Ben Stokes emerged as the costliest player, sold for ₹12.5 Cr to Rajasthan Royals while the Karnataka duo of KL Rahul and Manish Pandey went for ₹11 Cr each to Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.
While teams decided to splurge on the opening day, Royal Challengers Bangalore, known for making some massive buys in the past, opted to take the backseat and spend in small amounts right throughout the day which worked out well as they secured the services of 11 players for a total of ₹33.15 Cr. Here's how the day unfolded for the Challengers.
A slow, yet confident start
Pre-lunch
Having retained big guns Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers along with young gun Sarfaraz Khan ahead of the auctions, RCB's start to the day lifted a lot of eyebrows as huge names such as Ben Stokes, Kieron Pollard and even Mitchell Starc did not attract the franchise's interest. Until Glenn Maxwell's name popped up, it seemed as if RCB had lost their paddle and were robbed of the opportunity to bid.
However, when the big-hitting Aussies' name came up on the screen, RCB made their first bid but dropped out of contention soon, instead opting to bid for the services of New Zealand's Kane Williamson, who was ultimately sold to the Sunrisers.
Following the marquee set, the capped batsmen were up for auction and that was when RCB came to life as they added firepower to their batting in the form of the explosive Brendon McCullum (₹3.6 crore) but missed out on Chris Lynn and Manish Pandey, both of whom were on their radar.
Looking for some depth in the squad, RCB went all out in procuring three all-rounders in the form of Chris Woakes (₹7.4 Cr), Colin de Grandhomme (₹2.2 Cr) and spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali (₹1.7 Cr) in the last set prior to the lunch break.
Post-Lunch
The wicket-keepers set was the first to be auctioned post lunch and amidst names such as Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik, RCB fought hard against the Mumbai Indians to secure the services of Quinton de Kock (₹2.8 Cr).
Following the buy, the management sat back for the rest of the set and sprang back into action to shore up the bowling attack when the capped bowlers came into the auction for the first time. Umesh Yadav was the first Indian pacer to be auctioned and RCB did well to ward off stiff challenges from DD, KXIP and RR to buy him for a sum of ₹4.2 Cr.
The think-tank also went one step ahead to procure Mohammed Shami's services, but DD exercised their RTM card to snatch the ₹3 crore deal from RCB.
The spinners set followed the pacers which saw Piyush Chawla, Rashid Khan, Amit Mishra and Kuldeep Yadav garnering interest from RCB. As a matter of fact, Rashid Khan's final bid of ₹9 crore was from RCB but SRH used their RTM card to win him back.
Yuzvendra Chahal, one of RCB's most consistent performers, was bought back by the franchise for a sum of ₹6 Cr, having matched DD's final bid with the only RTM they used on the day.
In the uncapped batsmen set, Manan Vohra was snapped up by RCB for ₹1.1 crore which came after unsuccessful bids for Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi.
Local all-rounders commanded interest from the franchise as well and they went all out to procure the services of Krunal Pandya for ₹8.8 Cr, only to see MI's RTM card being raised in the air. The likes of Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar and Rahul Tripathi also piqued RCB's interest but they headed to other teams, as did Ishan Kishan.
In what transpired to be the final set for the day, a total of nine uncapped fast bowlers were sold from which three went to RCB. Left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya (₹0.85 Cr) and Aniket Choudhary (₹0.3 Cr) were bought before Navdeep Saini (₹3 Cr) turned out to be the final pick of the day for RCB.
What can be expected tomorrow?
With four batters at the top in de Kock, McCullum, Vohra and skipper Virat Kohli and the duo of AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan more than capable of anchoring the middle-order, it remains to be seen how RCB plan to accommodate Woakes, de Grandhomme and Moeen in the line-up.
That being said, the batting looks more or less settled with an option to spice it up with a local talent who could float around in the middle order or play the finisher's role. That would be on top of their priority list for tomorrow's segment of the auctions.
The bowling, which has been beefed up by the inclusion of seasoned pacer Umesh Yadav, will see the likes of Saini, Khejroliya and Choudhary aid the pacer while the spin department will have to be taken care of by the ever-reliable Yuzvendra Chahal.
However, RCB will be keen on finding one bowler who can be effective in the death in case Chris Woakes/Umesh Yadav has a bad day.
While the youngsters will do well to grow under Ashish Nehra, RCB face the problem of fielding four foreigners from the options at hand. With England set to play Pakistan during the IPL, Woakes might miss a part of the tournament which will be a body blow for the side.
With this in mind, Nehra will have to do his homework to unearth another pacer, preferably a local talent who can win matches and lead the attack alongside Umesh.