Acquiring more bowling options to support pace spearhead Mohammad Siraj will be Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top priority at the upcoming IPL auctions, team’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat said on Monday.
RCB have retained 18 players, including star batter Virat Kohli, skipper Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Siraj, and released 11 players. Those who have been released include the trio of medium pacer Harshal Patel, Sri Lanka leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Australian quick Josh Hazlewood, depleting the team’s bowling resources.
“Mohammad Siraj is a core part of what we do so supporting Siraj with some more bowling options including overseas bowling options is going to be a real priority for us moving forward,” Bobat was quoted as saying in a media release.
“Then we have got a core of local spinners, which I think is quite strong. Some of them got some opportunities over the last year or two and they might play more leading roles moving forward,” he added. A top heavy side, RCB traded Australia all-rounder Cameron Green for Rs 17.5 crore from Mumbai Indians, to strengthen their middle order.
“We have got a strong core of retaining players, and we have got a very powerful top order. Part of the decision-making that we had around our player release decisions was to try and strengthen the middle order and bringing Cameron Green was a fantastic move.”
RCB have a purse of Rs 40.75 crore with a total of seven slots available to sign players.
Bobat also underscored the significance of fostering the right performance environment and culture for players to showcase their capabilities. “I am committed to a long-term project here. We have a fantastic captain in Faf, and an excellent group of senior players with the experience of Virat, Maxi (Maxwell), and DK (Dinesh Karthik). So the ingredients are really strong.
“The next objective is to make sure we create the right performance, and culture where the players can really go and showcase what they are capable of, and go out and entertain the public. “If we commit to our processes, play a brand of cricket that is aggressive, and have those moments where we’re prepared to be brave it will get the fans going.”
