The Royal Challengers Bangalore had a fantastic start to IPL 2021 winning their first 4 games on the trot. They seemed to have finally found the winning combination. RCB had key players performing in different games last season. This augurs well for the franchise going into the mega auctions next year. RCB finally has a core group of players who can take the team forward, Next year there will mega auction, lets see the probable Players On Whom RCB Might Use The RTM.
The big dilemma ahead of RCB going into the next year’s auction will be who should be the 3rd player we should retain. And who should be the couple of players we should buy back through the Right to Match (RTM) card in IPL 2022?
RCB will pretty surely retain skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Owing to the retention purse cap restriction, RCB may not be able to retain Glenn Maxwell. They are likely to retain Devdutt Padikkal in that scenario.
Let’s look at Top 5 players on whom RCB might use the RTM in the mega auctions:
#5 Washington Sundar
Washington Sundar has played a key role for RCB since 2018. He has represented RCB in 31 games across 4 seasons. Sundar played a starring role for them in 2020. His economy rate was a brilliant 5.96 in IPL 2020.
Sundar is yet to prove his full ability with the bat for RCB. But RCB will be quite keen to buy back Sundar in the auction using the RTM. He is someone who has been quite economical (7.17) for RCB despite playing in batting-friendly conditions.
#4 Kyle Jamieson
The tall burly allrounder made a lot of buzz when RCB bought him for a whopping INR 15 crores. Jamieson himself will admit that he hasn’t exactly set the stage on fire for RCB. But he hasn’t been poor either.
He has been decent without being breathtaking for the Bangalore franchise. Jamieson has picked up 9 wickets in 7 games and has scored crucial runs in the end overs. RCB will look to use the RTM for Jamieson albeit at a much lower price.
#3 Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel has been a revelation for RCB in IPL 2021. His tradeoff from DC to RCB before the season has proven to be a masterstroke. Patel leads the purple cap race this season.
He has been pretty effective at the death except for a couple of games. Patel has picked up 17 wickets in 7 matches this season so far. There is little doubt RCB will want to retain him. They will be itching to buy back Harshal Patel as soon as his name crops up in the auction.
#2 Mohammad Siraj
Mohammad Siraj has really come of age in the last 6-8 months. He recorded impressive numbers in IPL 2020 picking 11 wickets at a strike rate of 14.81. Siraj singlehandedly won RCB a must-win game against KKR last season. His spell of 3-8 was seam bowling at his absolute best.
Siraj has continued his brilliant form in IPL 2021. His death bowling prowess was there for everyone to see. Siraj was the standout death bowler in IPL 2021. His economy rate of 7.34 validates that fact. A quality Indian fast bowler is a rare commodity in IPL. RCB will surely bid for Siraj in the IPL 2022 mega auctions no matter what the price.
#1 Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell finally seemed to have found a home in RCB in IPL 2021. The swashbuckling batsmen had failed in IPL for the last couple of seasons. Maxwell’s match-winning knocks took RCB to the top of the points table.
He formed a formidable trio with Kohli and de Villiers. Maxwell registered 223 runs in 7 games at an average of 37.16. The fact that he scored those runs at 144.80 helped RCB’s cause greatly. RCB will be keen to buy back Maxwell using the RTM in the mega auctions next year IPL 2022.
