Royal Challengers Bangalore is one of the few IPL franchises that has not won the championship even once. RCB has always been a batting-heavy team, and some incredible batting superstars have represented this franchise. The likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis, and AB de Villiers have played for RCB.
Even with the current teams, players like Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell are among the best all-format batters in modern cricket. So what will be the strategy for RCB going forward in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League?
Can they end their trophy drought and win the championship? The franchise has tried to do its best job and retain some of its key players ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. They have also traded in Cameron Green, who will add more firepower to the batting.
But one area that will be concerning for the franchise will be the bowling department. RCB has released the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, and David Willey and doesn’t have many bowling options. That’s what De Villiers also feels. In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, De Villiers said that he feels that RCB will have to work on the bowling at the auction and pick some good bowlers.
An ex-RCB star said, “It is the area where I would be worried. Obviously, there is Siraj there, Topley, but if you see the released player list, they let go of Hasaranga, Harshal, and Hazlewood. Those three have won them a lot of games, especially Hazlewood; he had just this way of controlling that bowling lineup.”
There are some brilliant bowlers who will come under the hammer at the IPL 2024 auction. RCB has 23 crore to spend at the auction, and they can go looking for good bowling options. It will be difficult for any bowler to bowl at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium because of the size of the boundaries, and RCB needs to pick pretty wisely.
