Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) acquired Indian pacer all-rounder Harshal Patel (Rs 10.75 crore), Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 10.75 crore), Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood (Rs 7.75 crore), South Africa’s veteran batsman Faf du Plessis (Rs 7 crore), who were the top buys among the 19 players bought by the team at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction 2022.
In its endeavour to build a bold brigade for excellence in the upcoming IPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore also added steel and resolve to the squad with the additions of veteran India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (Rs 5.5 crore), wicketkeeper-batsman Anuj Rawat (Rs 3.4 crore), left-arm orthodox bowler & left-hand batsman Shahbaz Ahamad (Rs 2.4 crore), West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford (Rs 1 crore).
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s Mike Hesson Happy With Well Balanced Squad Comprising Of Overseas And Domestic Players
Virat Kohli relinquished his captaincy duties at the end of IPL 2021 but was retained by his franchise along with Glenn Maxwell and Mohammad Siraj. Royal Challengers Bangalore Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson on Sunday opened up on his side’s auction strategy, saying RCB have managed to cover all bases with a multi-dimensional skill set in the 2-day event in Bengaluru.
Speaking about the strategy at the auction, Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket Operations, RCB said, “We are very happy with the way our squad is shaped with the new inclusions around the retained talents. It is a really balanced team of overseas and domestic players.”
“We have managed to cover all our bases with multi-dimensional skill sets and that was the key to our strategy getting into the auctions. The majority of things went as per plan considering the auction dynamics, we managed to check off all the criteria that we had set out to achieve for the RCB team.”
“The strategy was to define dedicated roles for players, who we identified, and to strategically go after individual players, managing the purse wisely. We also successfully managed to get some of our RCB players back which was always an important part of our game plan.”
“It is certainly an achievement with the way auction dynamics plays out and the budget remains to be a constraint, but we are very happy with the outcome. We also looked at the availability and how fast all these players just get into the groove and the preparations to form a playing XI. We are certainly excited for the upcoming season and believe we have got the arsenal to put up a quality show,” he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore went big to retain last season’s Purple Cap winner Harshal Patel, spending Rs 10.75 crore for the pacer. They also signed Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga for a similar price, making the duo their joint biggest buy of the auction. Royal Challengers Bangalore also bagged experienced former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis for Rs 7 crore as one of the prime candidates to lead the side.
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Chairman Happy With Signing Of Seasoned Players Apart From Talented Youngsters Having Potentials
Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who had a base price of Rs 1 crore, emerged as one of the most sought-after players at the IPL 2022 Auction. The Sri Lankan leg spinner, who had played for Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, sparked off a massive bidding war. Wanindu Hasaranga returned to RCB for a whopping Rs 10.75 crore.
Speaking about the mega auction, Prathmesh Mishra, Chairman, RCB said, “We are very pleased with the squad that we have assembled over the two days at the Tata IPL Mega Auction 2022. We have got some seasoned players who we have witnessed giving eclectic performances in the recent cricket tournaments and talented youngsters who have shown tremendous potential with their consistent efforts in their rising cricket career.”
“We were very clinical in our plans and have ensured players who have a fearless attitude and embody our philosophy of Play Bold to get on this journey with us and enjoy their stint at RCB playing their style of cricket. We look forward to an exciting season of cricket entertainment with these exceptional bunch of players.”
In August 2021 before the second half of the season began, Wanindu Hasaranga was included in the RCB squad for the UAE phase of the tournament. He made his IPL debut on 20 September 2021 against Kolkata Knight Riders. For Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga has 55 wickets in 35 games and in T20s otherwise, he’s picked 113 wickets in 84 games. In the IPL though, he played two games and got no wickets for RCB.
RCB squad: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, David Willey, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Siddharth Kaul, Jason Behrendorff, Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Miling, Akash Deep, Aneeshwar Gautam, Luvnith Sisodia.