"They went from bad to worse" - Mohammad Kaif says RCB not using RTM for Will Jacks in IPL 2025 Auction is a 'massive miss'
Mohammad Kaif has criticized the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for not reacquiring Will Jacks at the IPL 2025 auction. He pointed out that the England all-rounder played a significant role in the franchise's run to the playoffs in IPL 2024.
The Mumbai Indians (MI) bought Jacks for ₹5.25 crore after a bidding war with the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Although RCB had the Right To Match card option to reacquire the big-hitting all-rounder, they opted not to use it.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Kaif opined that RCB's decision not to use the RTM card for Jacks turned their auction from bad to worse.
"Jacks saved their honor last year. RCB came in the top four because of him. I remember two matches. He helped RCB beat SRH (SunRisers Hyderabad) in Hyderabad with his bowling and scored a hundred against GT (Gujarat Titans) in Ahmedabad off 40 balls. So Will Jacks won them two matches on his own and they didn't take him," he said.
"RCB said they don't want good players. They let (Rishabh) Pant and KL (Rahul) go, and he (Jacks) played well for them. It's not easy for any batter to score a hundred. The RCB fans will be extremely disappointed. We have seen from yesterday (Day 1) that RCB's auction planning was bad, and today (Day 2) they went from bad to worse. I believe not taking Jacks is a massive miss," Kaif added.
Jacks smashed 230 runs at a strike rate of 175.57 in eight innings in IPL 2024. His unbeaten 100 off 41 deliveries against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad was instrumental in improving RCB's net run rate, which eventually helped them seal a playoff berth.
"The biggest disappointing factor of RCB's auction was not using the RTM for Will Jacks" - Sanjay Bangar
![Virat Kohli (left) and Will Jacks stitched together an unbroken 166-run partnership against the Gujarat Titans. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/11/240d2-17325931510260-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same discussion, Sanjay Bangar termed RCB's call of not using the RTM card for Will Jacks 'the biggest disappointment'.
"The biggest disappointing factor of RCB's auction was not using the RTM for Will Jacks. Yes, you got Tim David and Liam Livingstone. However, Will Jacks has the pedigree and could have attacked at the top of the order. He played at No. 3 last year as well," he said.
The former RCB head coach opined that the Bengaluru-based franchise would have potentially had the best top four in IPL 2025 had they acquired Jacks.
"Phil Salt came in place of Faf du Plessis. Virat Kohli will stay there. If Jacks had also played there, it would have been understandable if you had played one of Tim David and Livingstone down the order. If Will Jacks had been in your top four along with Rajat Patidar, this batting order would have been explosive. They might have got the best top four of this IPL but they missed that opportunity," Bangar observed.
RCB bought Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Tim David and Jacob Bethell as part of their overseas batting contingent. Josh Hazlewood, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara and Lungi Ngidi were their other overseas acquisitions.