JOIN USRCB target home talents
Having released 12 players, including four foreign rectuits, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be targeting Indian batsmen to bolster the department which often floundered the previous season when they crashed out at the cusp of qualification for the knockouts.
While the likes of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers more than justified the money spent on them, it was the local batsmen who let the team down. Without being a flop, Virat Kohli, who led the side on most occasions with Daniel Vettori making way for the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, lacked effectiveness while Saurabh Tiwary disappointed again. Mayank
Agarwal played some quality knocks but consistency was missing.
With the exit of their Chief Mentor Anil Kumble, who since then has joined Mumbai Indians in the same capacity, from the RCB set-up, the new strategy team, including coach Ray Jennings, will tread cautiously keeping in mind the fact that the players picked in Sunday’s auction will be available only for the upcoming edition.
After releasing four local players, including Karnataka’s highest run-getter this season CM Gautam, RCB have signed up Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund, Kerala pacemen Sandeep Warrior and Prashanth Parameswaram (re-signed) and Punjab batsman Sunny Sohal ahead of the auction. The Bangalore franchise still has four more Indian slots to fill in while five foreign players’ positions are vacant.
They had released Charl Langeveldt, Dirk Nannes, Luke Pomersbach and Rilee Rossouw in November. With $2.5M (Approx Rs 13 crore) in their purse to spend at the auction in Chennai, RCB will be looking at bargain buys. The Vijay Mallya-owned side badly missed an all-rounder and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they strongly pitch for Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar who scored 966 runs and claimed 19 wickets this Ranji season. Australia’s T20 skipper George Bailey will also be one of the sought after players on Sunday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
* Current Indian players: 18, slots left: 4
* Current overseas players: 6, slots left: 5
* Salary cap remaining: Approx Rs 13 crore
* Squad size: Maximum: 33. Minimum: 18.
* Players signed before auction: Abhinav Mukund, Sandeep Warrior, Sunny Sohal, P Parameswaran (re-signed).
* Players released in November: Raju Bhatkal, CM Gautam, Mohammad Kaif, Abrar Kazi, Charl Langeveldt, Dirk Nannes, Ryan Ninan, Prashanth Parameswaran, Asad Pathan, Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw, S Thiagarajan.
* The current squad: AB de Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Andrew McDonald, Arun Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori, Harshal Patel, K P Appanna, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Muttiah Muralitharan, P Parameswaran, R Vinay Kumar, S Aravind, Sandeep Warrier, Saurabh Tiwary, Sunny Sohal, Syed Mohammad, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Zol, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan.
IPL breakups
Chennai Super Kings
Current Indian players:
11, slots left: 11
Current overseas players:
6, slots left: 5
Salary cap spent: $9.4 mn
(Rs 49.97 cr), Salary cap remaining: $3.1 mn (Rs 16.5 cr)
Delhi Daredevils
Current Indian players:
15, slots left: 7
Current overseas players:
8, slots left: 3
Salary cap spent: $11.1 mn (Rs 59 cr) ,
Salary cap remaining: $1.4 mn (Rs 7.44 cr)
Kings XI Punjab
Current Indian players:
14, slots left: 8
Current overseas players:
7, slots left: 4
Salary cap spent: $5.6 mn (Rs 29.77 cr), Salary cap remaining: $6.9 mn (Rs 36.68 cr)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Current Indian players:
12, slots left: 10
Current overseas players:
9, slots left: 2
Salary cap spent: $10.3 mn (Rs 54.75 cr), Salary cap remaining: $2.2 mn (Rs 11.69 cr)
Mumbai Indians
Current Indian players:
17, slots left: 5
Current overseas players:
6, slots left: 5
Salary cap spent: $10.2 mn (Rs 54.22 cr), Salary cap remaining: $2.3 mn (Rs 12.22 cr)
Pune Warriors
Current Indian players:
21, slots left: 1
Current overseas players:
8, slots left: 3
Salary cap spent: $9.2 mn (Rs 48.9 cr),
Salary cap remaining: $3.3 mn (Rs 17.54 cr)
Rajasthan Royals
Current Indian players:
11, slots left: 11
Current overseas players:
7, slots left: 4
Salary cap spent: $4.8 mn (Rs 25.51 cr), Salary cap remaining: $7.7 mn (Rs 40.93 cr)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Current Indian players:
14, slots left: 8
Current overseas players:
6, slots left: 5
Salary cap spent: $5.5 mn
(Rs 29.24 cr), Salary cap remaining: $7 mn (Rs 37.21 cr)