Bengaluru, December 20, 2023: During the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Player Auction in Dubai on Tuesday, December 19, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) made calculated purchases to effectively attain ideal squad balance. It was a hectic time for captain Faf du Plessis and the think tank as they put a lot of time into crafting a complete plan, which helped to enter the auction with much more clarity as RCB performed well-thought-out six bids to shape a strong squad for the forthcoming season. According to him, the team’s priority was selecting players who would excel at home.
RCB’s targeted approach in the auction saw them secure more strength in the bowling department. They already had a strong core in the top order with players like Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Rajat Patidar, and they have added all-rounder Cameron Green to the lineup, who provides excellent depth to the batting.
Alzarri Joseph, an aggressive West Indian pacer, went for ₹11.50 crore, making it the first purchase made by RCB at the auction. With bowling numbers of 6–12, the 27-year-old owns the record for the best-ever IPL bowling figures. He can be a good option during death overs. They acquired England’s Tom Curran (₹1.50 Cr) and New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson (₹2 Cr) to further bolster their attack’s velocity.
In order to maintain variety in their bowling attack, RCB also brought in Indian left-arm bowler Yash Dayal (₹5 crore) and spin all-rounder Swapnil Singh (₹20 crore). To round up a 25-man roster, they acquired young, gifted wicketkeeper Saurav Chauhan (₹20 lacs) from Gujarat. With a stunning 18-ball 61 in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Chauhan grabbed national attention.
Speaking about the bidding process and player selection, RCB Chairman Prathmesh Mishra stated: “RCB is dedicated to playing a fearless kind of cricket that places us among the best worldwide teams. We want to help the team develop a daring and vibrant performing culture by utilizing Mo Bobat and Andy Flower’s skills. Their careful approach and planning are evident in the well-thought-out purchases they made at the auction. We have added all-rounders and excellent bowling options to balance our team and provide firepower to the pace unit, in addition to the already formidable batting lineup. All in all, we’ve been successful in assembling a strong team that is ready to win the next campaign.
“After the previous season, we thought we wanted to get better at home. Being successful away from Chinnaswamy was one of the things we accomplished incredibly well. We therefore withdrew and discussed how to make things better at home, as well as how and where we could make improvements. Du Plessis stated, “There’s no doubt about it; the past two months have been entirely devoted to preparing how to improve at home and identifying the kind of bowlers and batsmen who will succeed there.
“RCB and our goals for the franchise were topics of much discussion. Doing your homework and making sure you consider all of the options is, in my opinion, always very important. Furthermore, he said, “I feel like we are a very well-connected leadership group, the three of us [head coach Andy Flower, director of cricket Mo Bobat, and bowling coach Adam Griffith], obviously with the help of a lot of the team, including Freddie [Wilde], the analyst, and even Head of Scouting Malolan Rangarajan, Head of RCB, VP and Head of Scouting, Andy Griffith.
In addition to saying they have a dangerous batting lineup, head coach Flower expressed confidence in the bowling attack and expects it to play a significant role.
Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, and Glenn Maxwell make up a formidable top four. Our power comes from Cameron Green, who is ranked in the top five. His power option, which is going to be quite dangerous, is somewhere in the top five, but we haven’t decided precisely where he will bat yet. The attack will be spearheaded by Mohammed Siraj, so it will be crucial that he is healthy and ready to start. There are some talented young Indian bowlers there who will hopefully play a significant role for us during the season as well as grow with us, the head coach said.
For the 2024 Indian Premier League, the whole roster of RCB
Retained Players: Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar (from SRH), Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, and Cameron Green (from MI).
New Buys: Alzarri Joseph (₹11.50 crore), Yash Dayal (₹5 crore), Tom Curran (₹1.5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (₹2 crore), Swapnil Singh (₹20 lakh), Saurav Chauhan (₹20 lakh).
India
