Having made some contentious decisions regarding retentions, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director Mo Bobat is now looking to add spin power to their arsenal at the IPL 2024 Auction. RCB have let go Wanindu Hasaranga as well as Shahbaz Ahmed and now need to find their replacements. The only highlight has been trading in Cameron Green but paying Rs 17.5 Crore to Mumbai Indians for the Australian all-rounder has also raised eyebrows.
At RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India, Mo Bobat highlighted the need to make some smart decisions at the IPL 2024 Auction. He would hope his first tenure at the franchise somehow ends the 16-year trophy drought.
“We have got a strong core of retaining players, and we have got a very powerful top order. Part of the decision-making that we had around our player release decisions was to try and strengthen the middle order and bringing Cameron Green was a fantastic move. Mohammad Siraj is a core part of what we do so supporting Siraj with some more bowling options including overseas bowling options is going to be a real priority for us moving forward. Then we have got a core of local spinners, which I think is quite strong. Some of them got some opportunities over the last year or two and they might play more leading roles moving forward,” Mo Bobat said.
However, what RCB have done right is retaining the core of the batters. Mo Bobat stressed on maintaining a long-term project.
“I am committed to a long-term project here. We have a fantastic captain in Faf, and an excellent group of senior players with the experience of Virat, Maxi (Maxwell), and DK (Dinesh Karthik). So the ingredients are really strong. The next objective is to make sure we create the right performance, and culture where the players can really go and showcase what they are capable of, and go out and entertain the public. If we commit to our processes, play a brand of cricket that is aggressive, and have those moments where we’re prepared to be brave it will get the fans going.”
RCB Retained players: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma and Rajan Kumar.
RCB Released players: Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, David Willey and Kedar Jadhav.
Players traded:
- Mayank Dagar (from Sunrisers Hyderabad) for Shahbaz Ahmed
- Cameron Green (from Mumbai Indians)
- Remaining Purse: Rs 23.25 Cr
- Slots to fill: 6
- Overseas Players: 3
