IPL 2021: 5 players RCB should release ahead of the auction

To finish better than their 4th in 2020, RCB have to make some tough calls.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had an unusually good 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). They finished fourth after seeming like top-two contenders throughout. A few things clicked, enabling their first playoffs qualification since 2016.

Apart from the evergreen Virat Kohli, Yuzvendra Chahal, and AB de Villiers, RCB found strong supporting hands in young opener Devdutt Padikkal, Sri Lankan pacer Isuru Udana, South African all-rounder Chris Morris, and the Indian pace duo of Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj.

However, RCB made a few big changes through the season in response to the underperformance of certain players. Here are five players RCB should release before the next auction.

#5 Gurkeerat Mann (IPL 2019-2020)

Mann looked a misfit in RCB's middle order as a buffer for their evergreen unit.

Gurkeerat was brought into the XI as RCB's search for an Indian middle-order companion to Virat Kohli continued. His three matches in the 2019 season showed promise, particularly his sparkling innings of 65, which egged the team to retain the all-rounder.

But 2020 was largely a horror show. Not only did he hardly score runs - just 71 in 8 games - he also lacked initiative in the middle with a strike rate below 89.

Gurkeerat's overall IPL record too is uninspiring, with an average just north of 21 from 41 innings. It seems quite likely that RCB will look for a younger, long-term replacement for Gurkeerat in the middle order..

#4 Pawan Negi (IPL 2017-2020)

Pawan Negi seems to be slipping off RCB's radar.

Someone who had a difficult but fruitful time in the IPL in the shadow of famed finger-spinners in the Chennai Super Kings squad, Pawan Negi had one breakthrough season for RCB in 2017, which pushed the management to retain him with their final Right To Match (RTM) card in the 2018 mega-auction.

Since then, Negi featured only sporadically. And when he did, he disappointed with bat and ball. His bowling form dipped as he picked just four wickets over the last two IPL seasons he played - 9 games in total. And he scored a paltry 12 runs with the bat.

In 2020, he did not play any games for the franchise. With the rise of Washington Sundar, Negi could be discarded here on.