IPL 2024 Auction Analysis: Royal Challengers Bangalore bolster squad but fail to find Hasaranga's replacement

Royal Challengers Bangalore have ventured thrice into the Indian Premier League (IPL) finals but never gone on to win the trophy. They’ve always caught everyone’s fancy with their explosive batting lineup but fallen short with their sub-par bowling. Read | Complete squads of all teams, purse remaining and slots Hoping to find the perfect balance for IPL 2024, RCB spent a total of Rs 20.20 crore on the services of Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11.50 crore), Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore), Tom Curran (Rs 1.5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 2 crore) and Swapnil Singh (Rs 20 lakh) at the mini-auction on Tuesday. “After the last season, we felt like we needed to improve at home. One of the things that we did really well was to succeed away from Chinnaswamy. So, we went away and put our heads together and what that looks like to be better at home and how can we get better, in what ways can we improve? It’s definitely the auction and the process of the last two months has been solely around planning to be better at home and the type of bowlers and batsmen that will be successful at home,” commented RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis. “We spent a lot of time talking about RCB and where we wanted to take the franchise. I think it’s always really important that you do your homework and make sure you look at every area and talk it through. And I feel like our relation, the three of us [head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat], obviously with the help of a lot of the team, Freddie [Wilde] the analyst and [Adam] Griffith the bowling coach, Malolan Rangarajan, (Head of Scouting) and even Rajesh V Menon (VP and Head of RCB), I feel like we are very well-connected leadership group,” he added. Pre-auction gaps RCB had entered the auction with focus on finding seamers having released Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, David Willey, Wayne Parnell and Siddharth Kaul. “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,” RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat had said prior to the auction in a media release. Read | IPL 2024 Auction: Josh Inglis, Phil Salt and other big snubs “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,” he added. Another gap to fill was in finding a replacement for Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga. RCB had spent Rs 10.75 crore on him but decided against retaining him for the IPL 2024 season. Not just the spin bowling, he is also a handy batting option in the middle-order. The Strengths Once again, RCB are a top-heavy side with plenty of runs in them. Additionally, the team has a strong experience level to carry the side forward if they do enter playoffs or finals. Captain Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik are all big names to have and will help the youngsters. RCB’s acquisition of Lockie Ferguson at his base price of Rs 2 crore in the accelerated round is a shrewd bit of business. The team has bolstered their seam bowling department in the form of Alzarri Joseph who is an excellent proponent in the T20 format. Andy Flower, RCB coach commented after the auction, “It’s really a strong top four with Virat [Kohli] and Faf [du Plessis], [Rajat] Patidar and [Glenn] Maxwell. Cameron Green who gives us that power somewhere in that top five. We haven’t decided exactly where he’s going to bat yet, but he gives us that power option somewhere in the top five that is going to be very dangerous. Mohammed Siraj will lead the attack and him being fit and firing is going to be very important. We’ve got some skilful young Indian bowlers there who are going to be growing with us through the season and hopefully playing a really important part for us,” the head coach commented. The weakness RCB have failed to find a replacement for Hasaranga. Sri Lankan wrist spinners abilities didn’t quite shine last year but remains an important slot to fill. Now that RCB haven’t bolstered adequately in this department, the onus in the spin department falls on Karn Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Himanshu Sharma and latest acquisition Saurav Chauhan. RCB’s Best Buy: Lockie Ferguson is great business but Alzarri Joseph could be decisive for RCB during the season. RCB’s Worst Buy: Now not part of England’s plans, Tom Curran is an iffy pick by the RCB. Even though going at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore, he doesn’t quite inspire confidence. The Englishman has played 13 IPL matches across three seasons and scored just 127 runs. With the ball he’s picked 13 wickets at an economy rate of 10.84. RCB players bough at IPL 2024 Auction: Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11.50 crore), Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore), Tom Curran (Rs 1.5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 2 crore), Swapnil Singh (Rs 20 lakh) RCB full squad: Faf du Plessis (C), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Mayank Dagar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh RCB Purse left: Rs 2.85 crore RCB Slots remaining: 0 (overseas - 0)