IPL 2023 Mini Auctions: Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore have always had a blow hot and blow cold kind of campaign everytime they enter the Indian Premier League (IPL) arena. They have always looked like a strong contender on paper, but their numbers don't do enough justice to them. Every time there is a huge fanfare around this side and the support they get from their crowd is just immense. Last year Virat Kohli stepped down from his captaincy duties and Faf Du Plessis took over. They fared pretty decently but did not deliver according to their promise.
In the 2022 season, the 15th edition of the tournament, Royal Challengers Bangalore won 8 and lost 6 games in the group stage. They qualified for the eliminator and ended up being ousted by Sanju Samsons' Rajasthan Royals. Royals later went on to play the finals against Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans. RCB managed to accumulate 16 points in their league stage. Ahead of the mini auctions that will be held on December 23, 2022, in Kochi, the franchise has just released 4 players and has kept its core team intact. Royal Challengers Bangalore as of now released Sherfane Rutherford, Luvnith Sisodia, Aneeshwar Gautam, and Chama Milind. They have further traded off Jason Behrendorff to arch-rivals Mumbai Indians.
Royal Challengers Bangalore traded Behrendorff for his base price of INR 75 lakhs. The Bangalore franchise have a squad size of 18 and have two overseas slots remaining. Their purse as of now is of INR 8.75 crores. They have released the least number of players and have the 2nd lowest purse. Here is the list of players RCB might target in the mini-auction.
Mayank Agarwal (Base price INR 1 crore)
Royal Challengers Bangalore are in dire need of a proper opener. Their skipper Faf du Plessis can hold one end, but he needs support from the other end too. Last season RCB had tried Anuj Rawat for the opener's slot, but they had to drop him midway and bring in Virat to open the innings. With Mayank Agarwal up for grabs, the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise will certainly fancy his services. The former Punjab Kings skipper has played 113 IPL matches so far and has scored 2327 runs so far with a strike rate of 134.28.
Sam Curran (Base price INR 2 crore)
The Faf du Plessis-led side is in dire need of somebody who can help Wanindu Hasaranga and Josh Hazlewood. Hasaranga and Hazlewood's pair picked up 46 wickets for RCB in the previous edition. Sam Curran is pretty handy with the ball, have no doubts about that, but he can also provide a great amount of balance to any side with his batting prowess. In 2022, Curran has played 19 T20Is and at an economy of 7.56, he has taken 25 wickets. Curran this year has also registered a strike rate of 104.68 and has scored 67 runs.
Shreyas Gopal (Base price INR 50 lakhs)
This might sound like an interesting pick, but Gopal will be pretty handy for Royal Challengers Bangalore as he can bowl alongside Wanindu Hasaranga and can change the game around with a few tight overs in the middle. Gopal has played 49 innings in the IPL so far and has taken the same number of wickets. He has registered an economy of 8.11 in his IPL career and he will certainly be on RCB's wishlist as far as a spin bowling option is concerned.
ALSO READ | MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings might target 'THESE' players
The Royal Challengers Bangalore came pretty close to winning the trophy in 2016 but they missed out on it to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Since then, they have been unable to qualify for the finals and they certainly will want to change thier fortunes and lift the trophy this time around.
