The Royal Challengers Bangalore released only a few players – one was traded away and four others were released – ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction.
You can get an idea of the strength of their remaining squad members and the management’s clarity by the fact that none of the 5 released players were a regular part of their playing XI last season, where they finished 4th in the points table, defeated Lucknow in the Eliminator before losing to Rajasthan in the Qualifier 2, failing one step from the final.
Players released by RCB – Jason Behrendorff (traded), Sherfane Rutherford, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Luvnith Sisodia
The Faf du Plessis-led team will hope to do two steps better than last season, and for that, they will have to get some quality backups at the forthcoming IPL 2023 mini-auction.
Here are 3 players RCB can target in the IPL 2023 auction:
Josh Little
Ireland seamer Josh Little has been around the circuit for a while – he’s featured in 53 T20Is and 83 T20 matches – but it was only during the T20 World Cup 2022 that the left-arm cer made a big splash which perhaps were heard around the IPL franchises too.
Little played a crucial part in Ireland’s success in the T20 WC – the 22-year-old left-arm pacer picked up 11 wickets in 7 matches at a good economy of 7 in the tournament in Australia, including dismissed the dangerous Jos Buttler with his swing and seam movement. Little also took a hat-trick against New Zealand, showcasing his smarts when bowling in the death overs.
As aforementioned, RCB’s first XI seems almost the same from last season, but Little could be a good backup to the likes of Josh Hazlewood and David Willey, should they miss any games due to injury or national commitments.
Mayank Agarwal
Someone who can get into RCB’s first XI is their former batter Mayank Agarwal, who has been released by Punjab Kings, where he had a tough time leading them last season and it also affected his returns with the bat.
Nonetheless, he remains a top-quality experienced batter, and importantly, someone who plays selfless cricket by giving his side rapid starts instead of other run accumulators. That is a problem for RCB, who had a top three of Faf du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, and Virat Kohli all three of whom play conservative cricket at the start of their innings which at times has proven counter-productive and a risky approach when it doesn’t come off.
Agarwal was part of RCB in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and the franchise should strongly consider buying him back and giving him the opening slot; the right-hander would thrive at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with his belligerent approach.
Another factor that might force RCB to ponder over roping in Mayank Agarwal is that he could be their captaincy replacement for Faf du Plessis, who will be 39 soon after the IPL next year concludes.
Daniel Sams
While the IPL is still a few months away, RCB have the fitness of Glenn Maxwell as a concern after the Australian all-rounder broke his leg while running at a party and is now out of action for months. In that case, RCB should buy a proper all-rounder backup option of Maxwell at the IPL 2023 mini-auction.
Maxwell’s role in RCB’s middle order was that of a spin basher, a weakness of both Faf and Kohli. Thus, the all-rounder which RCB should seek is someone who can hit spin well. Then comes in the young Daniel Sams, who has been released by Mumbai Indians.
Sams is a proper all-rounder with multiple skillsets: he can swing the new ball, use variations in the death overs; with the bat, he is a pace marauder – as seen in multiple BBL seasons – and can thump spinners well, as evident from his strike rate of 146 against spinners in 2022 in T20 cricket. Sams is climbing the steps quickly and could be an asset for RCB.
