The mega auction is going to be held next month, it will be much more important for the team RCB as they are willing to fill some important spots in their team. RCB reached the final thrice but unfortunately, they failed to lift their maiden trophy. RCB finished their journey last year at no.3 on the points table. This mega auction will be important for RCB because their skipper Virat Kohli already stepped down from captaincy and they will miss the service of their star player AB De Villiers as he already announced his retirement from all kinds of format. It will be interesting to see how the RCB team management correctly uses this mega event to make a balanced team for next the season. In this article, we will predict RCB IPL 2022 Mega Auction strategy.
RCB retained players 2022
Having retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj, RCB will head into the #IPL2022 Auction with a purse of 57 Crores. 💪🏼#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/KzRhBwnIqq
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 30, 2021
Ahead of next season, they retained Virat Kohli (15 cr), Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (11 cr), and young seamer Mohammed. Siraj (9 cr). Glenn Maxwell is the only Aussie player who was retained by any team as he performed exceptionally well in both legs with bat and ball as well last year.
RCB Auction strategy 2022
RCB target players – Batsmen
As they released their young opener Devdutt Paddikal who performed exceptionally well in the last two seasons, there is a high chance that they will bid for him in the mega auction. RCB might groom him for the future as this southpaw has the potential to shine in the future with his willow for the franchise and also for his respective nation. Another youngster Subhman Gill might be on their list as he did extremely well for his former franchise KKR where he scored 1417 runs in just 58 games. Predictably, Glenn Maxwell will take the baton of leadership for next season but somehow if he refuses to take then Shubman Gill could be a good choice for captaincy.
As far as middle order is concerned RCB will definitely miss the service of AB De Villiers in the upcoming seasons. They will try to hunt for those players who can make quick runs and can finish the match as well. RCB might target to go after South African middle-order batsman David Miller. Once this left-handed protea can bat with a strike rate of 140 but somehow he lost his charm for the last few years. They might bid for their former player Manish Pandey who was a part of this franchise in 2009. This Karnataka player can bat in the top order as well as in the middle order. He batted with a strike rate of 120. There are many options of the middle-order batsman for RCB in the mega auction like- Shimron Hetmeyer, Nicholas Pooran, Rahul Tripathi.
RCB target players – Wicket-Keeper
Ishan Kishan was one of the star performers of Mumbai Indians in the 2020 season. He scored 516 runs with an excellent strike rate of 145. The team management might give interest in him as they are hunting some young blood who can bat easily at no. 3 or 4. He can open the innings with his bat as well.
Other than him they could prepare a list of their desired wicket-keeper including Johny Bairstow, Tom Banton, KS Bharat, and Sam Billings to select from this mega event.
RCB target players – All-rounder
Keeping Glen Maxwell in the squad, RCB released Dan Christian and Washington Sundar ahead of next season. The performance of Dan Christian was below average whereas Washington Sundar, who missed last year due to his injury, did exceptionally well for this franchise. If RCB could bring back him, he will be one of the best purchases of this team. Sundar can bat in the middle order as well as in the lower order with a strike rate of nearly 120. With the ball, he is very economical as he is the best economical bowler of RCB since he joined this franchise. Mitchell Marsh or Marcus Stoinis can replace Dan Christian next season.
RCB target players – Bowlers
Harshal Patel might be on the radar of many teams in the mega auction as he was the highest taker of last season with 32 wickets. RCB might bring back him to strengthen their squad. looking for another seamer they might go after T. Natarajan. Natarajan was the part of Sunrisers Hyderabad last few seasons but due to his injury, he could not play a single match last year. This left arm yorker specialist can bowl at any stage of the game and has an excellent economy of 7.19 in the death overs. After Dale Steyn left this franchise, RCB is missing a prolific pace bowler who can perform for them continuously. Australian Test skipper made a headline after KKR purchased him with 15.50 crore in 2020. He picked up 21 wickets last year in India’s leg but missed the UAE leg due to personal reasons. He might be on the franchise radar for the next season.
Shockingly this Bangalore-based franchise released one of the key bowlers- Yuzvendra Chahal. This Indian leggie is the highest wicket-taker of RCB with 139 wickets. Last week in an interview the CEO of RCB confirmed that they will bid for this experienced bowler in the auction at any cost. If somehow they will unable to do, then they might for young leggie Ravi Bishnoi.
