Another season and once again Royal Challengers Bangalore’s dream came crashing down when they were knocked out by Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2022, one step away from the final. The franchise, which finished third in the points table, will look to remove the chinks in its armour in the trading window ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.
The IPL 2023 auction is set to take place in mid-December. A month before the auction, the trading window will be opened where franchises can make trades of their players for other franchise players or for only cash that will open up their purses.
Apart from looking to strengthen their squad, RCB will also need to release some of their own players.
Here are 3 players RCB may trade out in the IPL 2023 trading window:
Karn Sharma
Leg-spinner Karn Sharma didn’t find a place in the eleven in any of the 16 matches that RCB played; this in itself speaks of the lack of trust in the leg-spinner from the RCB management. Karn has an experience of 68 IPL matches, and has been part of multiple IPL winning squads (SRH, MI, CSK), but has never been able to set the stage alight.
RCB will be back to playing at the Chinnaswamy, where there is nothing for the spinners; hence, with Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed as the two frontline spinners, RCB might choose to part ways with Karn and trade him to another franchise.
Jason Behrendorff
32-year-old Australian pacer Jason Behrendorff is an overseas player which RCB might trade-off. Behrendorff has been in the IPL since 2018 but has only played in 5 matches – all 5 games came in the 2019 season for MI – chiefly because he is predominantly a new-ball bowler, and who is injury prone.
Given that RCB already have Hazlewood, Willey and Siraj along with Maxwell to bowl with the new ball, Jason Behrendorff, like last season, would most likely spend his time on the bench. With his age and fitness issues, RCB won’t mind trading him to a team that wants an overseas new-ball pacer and in return could give them a player who could be used on the field.
Siddarth Kaul
Siddarth Kaul reunited with his 2008 under-19 captain, Virat Kohli, at RCB this year. But the pace couldn’t emulate the success from then or from his SRH days: 32-year-old Kaul featured in just one match this season in which he leaked 43 runs for no wicket.
Kaul hasn’t made any ground-breaking performances in the recent domestic season as well. RCB’s pace attack was their strength in IPL 2022 with a mixture of experience and youth; in this, Kaul hardly stands a chance for game time next year, and the franchise could be better by trading him away.
