IPL 2020: 3 released players RCB can target at the auction to strengthen their batting
With the trading window for IPL 2020 closed, we now know which players have been retained by their franchises and which have been released. The next steps for the teams is to pick appropriate players at the auction to be held in Kolkata on 19 December.
Royal Challengers Bangalore are one side that will be desperate to do well in IPL 2020. They have constantly under-performed in the league over the years, and 2019 was one of their worst seasons as they finished bottom of the points table with 11 points (five wins and eight losses).
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One of the major reasons for RCB’s under-performance is their over-dependence on skipper Virat Kohli and the other match-winner AB de Villiers. In 2019, Kohli and De Villiers were the top run-getters for their team with 464 and 442 runs respectively. Parthiv Patel was third on the list with 373 runs, but no other batsman could reach even 250.
At the 2020 auction, the RCB think-tank must look at ways to strengthen the batting. Here are three released players they can target.
#1 Evin Lewis
Evin Lewis did not have a great season for Mumbai Indians in 2019, managing only 48 runs in three matches, and so has been released. However, he did fairly well in the previous season, notching up 382 runs in 13 games at a strike rate of 138.40 with two fifties.
The left-handed Lewis, who idolizes Chris Gayle, has a strike rate of over 150 in the 26 T20Is that he has played. That’s not all; he also has two T20I hundreds to his name.
If he can find better consistency, Lewis has the ability to become one of T20 cricket’s most dangerous hitters.
#2 Martin Guptill
For some reason, Kiwi opener Martin Guptill has not been able to set the IPL on fire, despite having all the credentials needed to be a major success in the league.
Guptill has featured in three IPL seasons, and has a rather mediocre record overall - 270 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 137.75 with only one fifty. Last season, he played only three games for Sunrisers Hyderabad, and finished with 81 runs with a highest score of 36.
Ironically, Guptill is among the leading run-scores in T20Is with 2,436 runs in 83 matches at a strike rate of 134.58. He also has two hundreds and 15 half-centuries in the format.
Given a decent run, there is no reason why Guptill can’t succeed in the IPL.
#3 Chris Lynn
In a somewhat surprising move, Kolkata Knight Riders decided to release Australian big-hitter Chris Lynn.
The attacking batsman did not have a poor IPL 2019 by any stretch of the imagination - 405 runs in 13 games at a strike rate of 139.65 with four fifties. In fact, he had scored 491 runs in the 2018 edition as well at a strike rate of 130.23. And while he played only seven games in 2017, he finished with stunning numbers - 295 runs at a strike rate of 180.98.
KKR would have had their own reasons to release Lynn. But who knows, KKR’s loss could be RCB’s gain.