The IPL 2022 mega auction is one of the most highly anticipated events given that the Indian Premier League will welcome two new teams to the mix, making the tournament a ten-team one.
The original eight franchises have already released the list of players they have retained for the upcoming IPL 2022 and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was one of them as well.
The RCB franchise has retained Virat Kohli (INR 15 crores), Glenn Maxwell (INR 11 crores), and Mohammed Siraj (INR 7 crores). Their remaining purse value stands at ₹57 crores. The RCB is a franchise that has seen a resurgence in fortunes in the past two seasons, as they made it into the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Now as the teams are preparing for the IPL 2022 mega auction, well-known YouTuber Dr. Cric Point, has come out with his predictions of players that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) might target in the IPL 2022 auction.
First of all, he chose Australia’s David Warner, who was unceremoniously ousted as captain and player from the XI by his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in midst of the IPL 2021 season.
Warner has shown amazing leadership qualities captaining the Orange Army from 2015-2021 and leading them to their maiden IPL title in the 2016 edition. He always led from the front and has made 5,449 in his IPL career to date, including 4 centuries and a whopping 50 half-centuries at an average of 41.59 and a strike rate of 139.96.
RCB needs a captain after Virat Kohli quit after the IPL 2021 edition and who better than Warner to be brought on board. Dr. Cric Point pointed out that Warner fulfills all of RCB’s requirements be it a captain, an opener, a left-handed explosive opener, a gun fielder, and a leader overall.
The next pick was that of Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lankan leg-spin all-rounder who played in the second half of the IPL 2021 for RCB in the UAE. He impressed in whatever opportunities he got and given his performances across the globe and for Sri Lanka, RCB would like to get their hands on him, as they require a leg-spinner, after leaving out Yuzvendra Chahal from their retention list.
Dr. Cric Point then picked another leg-spinner option in Ravi Bishnoi who can be an object of attraction for the RCB team. Bishnoi was one of the best bowlers in IPL 2020 for Punjab Kings (PBKS) but surprisingly didn’t get many chances in IPL 2021.
Bishnoi reportedly asked to be released as he wanted to enter the IPL 2022 mega auction and given his performances, RCB will target him for sure.
The next targetted player by RCB as per the well-known cricket YouTuber was Jonny Bairstow, the England keeper-batter. He opined that RCB might go for him to fill the position of a wicketkeeper, which they need after AB de Villiers’ retirement from the game.
However, Dr. Cric Point pointed out that though RCB might want to dole out for Bairstow, they might not get him, given the amount of money left in their purse after three retentions, which is INR 57 crores.
Harshal Patel was a player who was surprisingly not retained by RCB, despite him winning the Purple Cap in the IPL 2021 for the same franchise. This performance led to Harshal making his India debut in T20Is against New Zealand.
However, Dr. Cric Point opined that though RCB might heavily target Harshal in the auction to get him back, it might not be possible as other franchises will also be on the lookout for such a talented bowler, who can do wonders.
As a bonus, apart from these five players, a foreign player which Dr. Cric Point talked about was England’s Liam Livingstone.
Livingstone has hit the fastest T20I hundred for England and has been part of almost all global T20 leagues in the world. With RCB likely to play the majority of their matches on their home ground on M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Livingstone can come in handy with his ability to clean strike.
The England player is also a handy spinner, capable of bowling both off and leg-spin, and is a gun fielder anywhere in the field. The analyst also opined that Livingstone can be considered a backup for Maxwell by RCB.
