The existing eight franchises of the Indian Premier League have announced their final lists of retained players on November 30 ahead of the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auctions. The upcoming IPL 2022 Mega Auction is going to be very important for all the ten teams. It will be the final opportunity for the teams to build their squad from scratch. Each franchise will look forward to acquire players who can be their long term partners. There was a limit on the number of retentions for each team. And many teams have not even utilized their four retentions so that they can have a higher purse amount for the mega auction. Some teams will target young talent whereas some teams will look for a new captain. In this article we will talk about Royal Challengers Bangalore and its approach towards the mega auction. It will be interesting to see who will be the captain of RCB in the next edition of the tournament. Let’s see IPL 2022 Mega Auction : RCB five target players.
Having retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj, RCB will head into the #IPL2022 Auction with a purse of 57 Crores. ??#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPLRetention pic.twitter.com/KzRhBwnIqq
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 30, 2021
Royal Challengers Bangalore had quite a successful campaign in the 2021 edition of the tournament. They were able to secure 9 wins in 14 matches and were also qualified for the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Australian hitter Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel were the best performers for the side. However, the situation has changed completely for the next season. The teams were given the option of retaining a maximum of four players. RCB decided to retain only three players. They went for Virat Kohli (Rs 15 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs 11 crore), Mohammed Siraj (Rs 7 crore). Therefore, the management need to rebuild the squad. AB Devillers has also announced his retirement from the all formats so replacing him would be a huge task. Another problem is that Virat Kohli has announced that he won’t be captaining the side from next season.
Let’s have a look at five players that RCB can target in the IPL 2022 mega auctions.
KL Rahul
Punjab Kings have not retained KL Rahul. According to sources, it was the decision of KL Rahul to part ways with the franchise. He has been the skipper of the team since he joined them in 2018. This captaincy fact makes him a probable target for RCB. Rahul is one of the best openers in the IPL and he has been the highest run-scorer for Punjab Kings for three consecutive years. There are chances that he might be interested to get back to his previous franchise, i.e., Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2016, he played in 14 matches for RCB and managed to score 397 runs at an average of 44.11. However, he was not given attention by RCB and the franchise didn’t retain him ahead of the 2018 editions. After the decision of Kohli to step down from captaincy, RCB are looking for someone to lead the side, and KL Rahul would be the perfect target in the mega auctions.
David Warner
He is just another big player who has not been retained by his franchise. Warner is the overseas leading run-scorer in IPL history. He was also the highest run-scorer at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE. In the last season, he had a horrible run with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Things got really bad between him and the SRH management and in the end he was shown the exit door by the franchise. RCB are looking for a prospective captain and he can take up the captaincy role for the ‘Bold Army’.
Liam Livingstone
AB Devillers’ exit will affect the middle order of RCB. And therefore they will be looking for another explosive middle order batsman for his replacement. Liam Livingstone is the perfect match for that spot. It is true that he did not have a great IPL 2021 but he has the ability to be the match winner for his side. The 28-year-old is one of the most destructive batters in the T20 format at present. He has a strike rate of 165.78 in T20Is and 144.73 and in all of T20 cricket. Another merit of Livingstone is that he can bat anywhere in order and can charge the bowlers. Fans are familiar with his big-hitting skills in various T20 leagues. Livingstone’s all-round skills make him a target for RCB in IPL 2022 mega auctions.
Devdutt Padikkal
In the beginning, it seemed like RCB will retain its young opener Devdutt Padikkal as their fourth player, but they decided to pick only three players because they wanted a bigger purse for the mega auction. There is high probability that RCB wil look to try and purchase Padikkal at the mega auction. And they might get him at a much lower price that the retained one. He deserved to be in the squad because he was the emerging player in IPL 2020 after he scored 473 runs in 15 matches. However he was not so good in the recent season but he is definitely an investment for the future. In fact, he can even lead the side in the future.
Yuzvendra Chahal
This was just another shocking news for RCB fans. It is not clear whether it was Chahal’s decision to go in the auction or it was RCB management who took the decision to not retain him. Chahal was not retained by RCB because he wanted more than RCB was willing to give him. Chahal was leading the spin department of the Bangalore franchise for several years. Many fans and experts expect RCB to re-sign Chahal in the IPL 2022 mega auctions. Chahal played 15 matches for RCB in IPL 2021 and picked 18 wickets at an average of 20.77. He has been the sidekick of Virat for so many years. Chahal has already stated his wish that he would like to play for RCB until his last season in the IPL. RCB will look to target the leg-spinner in the mega auction if he is not brought in by any of the two new teams before the marquee event.
