Royal Challengers Bangalore were one of the biggest spenders in the IPL 2021 auction but were they able to plug obvious holes in the squad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore entered the IPL auction 2021 with the second-highest purse amount of Rs 35.7 crores and made some expensive signings. They were involved in multiple bidding wars throughout the auction since they had enough money to go for marquee players this auction.
Bangalore has always heavily relied on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the batting department. Both players have managed to churn out consistent performances for multiple seasons. However, cricket is a team sport where a balanced squad is much more effective than the dependence on a couple of star players. While Bangalore did pick up great players, they missed out on some essential areas.
In IPL 2020, RCB did a pretty decent job and ended up on the fourth spot on the table. To take that final step and win that maiden title, RCB needed a top-order batsman to open with last season’s sensation Devdutt Padikkal, some middle-order batsmen, few match-winning all-rounders, and fast bowlers to replace Umesh Yadav and Chris Morris.
Similar to other teams, RCB decided to splurge on overseas all-rounders. After being actively involved in the bidding process for Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris, Jhye Richardson, and Kyle Jamieson, RCB acquired Maxwell for Rs 14.25 crores and Jamieson for Rs 15 crores. They also picked Daniel Christian towards the end for Rs 4.80 crores. Additionally, RCB also got young impressive Indian players in Sachin Baby, Raja Patidar, Mohammed Azharudeen, Suyash Prabhudessai, and KS Bharat for Rs 20 lakhs each.
While the domestic investment is impressive, the decisions to spend big on overseas all-rounders might be an issue. Maxwell was released by Punjab despite his heavy price due to his inability to perform consistently in IPL. Although he is a phenomenal T20 player, he has failed to impress in the league for many years. Despite multiple poor campaigns, he managed to start a bidding war in the auction. RCB will need him to be at his best to justify this price tag. They will hope that Maxwell will be able to emulate his recent exploits in BBL and international cricket.
RCB’s most expensive acquisition in 2021, Kyle Jamieson is another risky acquisition. The Kiwi all-rounder has undeniably garnered a great record in a short time, but he has not proved his worth on international pitches. However, IPL has always managed to bring the best out of young players, so there is a lot of hope from this 26-year-old. This pacer will probably feature as a prime death bowler in the absence of Morris.
Meanwhile, getting Dan Christian at less than 5 crores was a great deal. This veteran T20 specialist has played in franchise cricket all over the world. In fact, he has already played for RCB in 2013. Given his terrific performance in the 2020/21 Big Bash League for the Sydney Sixers, he can be useful for RCB. However, he might get fewer chances to play ahead of Jamieson and Maxwell.
RCB has tried to fill gaps in their team, but now it’s up to the international additions and uncapped Indian players to step up and finally lead the three times runner-ups to the title.
Here’s our predicted playing XI of RCB:
- Devdutt Paddikal
- Josh Philippe
- Virat Kohli
- AB de Villiers
- Glenn Maxwell
- Sachin Baby
- Kyle Jamieson
- Washington Sundar
- Navdeep Saini
- Mohammed Siraj
- Yuzvendra Chahal