IPL 2020: Auction strategy for the Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore have been the perennial underachievers in the IPL. Boasting of a batting lineup that could give any opposition a run for their money for the most part of this decade, RCB have not achieved the kind of results they should have.
RCB have, however, reached the finals thrice, and came very close to winning the title in 2016 under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. Yet, the last two seasons have been disastrous for them, despite having one of the most balanced squads ever in their history.
With the team's fortunes revolving largely around two of world's best T20 batsmen in the form of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, RCB have failed to stitch together individual performances. Lack of proper death overs specialists and bowlers suited to their home pitch has cost them numerous wins.
Ahead of the upcoming IPL 2020 auctions, RCB released as many as 12 players, the most by any team and retained just two foreign players in AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali. With many gaps left to plug, RCB will need to spend their remaining purse wisely and procure the services of a few quality players.
List of retained and released players
Retained: Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini.
Released: Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetymer, Akshdeep Nath, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme, Prayas Barman, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Himmat Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Milind Kumar and Dale Steyn.
Available Slots: 12 (six overseas)
Purse remaining: Rs 27.90 cr
Also see – BPL Points Table
Areas of concern
The lack of specialist seamers has always been RCB's weakness and it is no different this time around. A host of Indian pacers including the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and Navdeep Saini are very good red ball bowlers but are mediocre with the white ball, especially at the death.
Additionally, the release of Colin de Grandhomme and Marcus Stoinis means RCB now have less firepower in the lower middle order. Shivam Dube lacks experience and they would love to have some experience in the lower order to bring about some important runs in the slog overs.
RCB might also want to target a backup wicket-keeper, keeping in mind Parthiv is the only keeper in the squad currently.
Probable buys in the Auction
Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Andrew Tye and Chris Jordan will be in the radar of the management. Cummins is in the form of his life, while Mustafizur, Tye and Jordan are proven death bowlers.
They will also be interested in the likes of Carlos Brathwaite, Sam Curran and Chris Morris, who could provide them with some crucial overs and use the long handle to good effect as well.
On the batting front, RCB might want to sign experienced names such as Eoin Morgan or David Miller to give them the solidity in the middle overs and also some firepower in the end overs.
One more issue RCB might face will be to sign designated openers such as Jason Roy or Colin Munro, both of whom could play the X-factor in the side with their ability to score some quick runs in the first six overs. They might also be interested in the experience of Robin Uthappa, who might bring in the local flavour to the side as well.
The focus will be on bringing in some overseas strike bowlers who can also provide reliable death bowling options. With as many as six overseas slots and a decent amount of purse left, expect RCB to go big for overseas fast bowlers and finishers.