<p>While it was a day of mixed returns for Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday, they made some wise buys on Sunday, bolstering their bowling line-up and buying a talented all-rounder that gives them a really balanced look.</p>.<p>The three-time runners-up picked up teenage Tamil Nadu off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar for just Rs 3.2 - a steal considering his fast-rising stock - and roped in talented pacer Mohd Siraj for Rs 2.6 crore. They also bought international pacers Nathan Coulter-Nile (2.2 crore) and Tim Southee (1 crore) for reasonable sums and ensured decent spin back-ups in the form of Murugan Ashwin (2.2 crore) and using the Right To Match on Pawan Negi (1 crore).</p>.<p>RCB chairman Amrit Thomas was delighted with the way auction went for the team. "All-rounders are very valuable for us. Most teams have picked all-rounders with their own calculations and ideas. We were willing to go higher for Washington but we ended up getting him at a very good price. It was the case with Mohd Siraj too. We're excited about that."</p>.<p>Thomas also opined that the team now has a much stronger bowling unit as compared to previous years. "Every auction is a graduation ceremony to the next edition. People do a lot more research. There are scouts all over the country now. When international uncapped players are bought there's a lot of noise. Most of the teams are tracking others very closely.</p>.<p>"There was a point in time when we had a team we wanted. We were very sorted. We just wanted to pick a few players to cover for injuries. We think we have eight combinations. We have looked at a whole set of statistics to see what it means to economy rate. We understand what works in the death overs. We are using a different set of statistics which I don't think any cricketing team or cricketing publication uses it. We think we can put eight combinations on the field."</p>
<p>While it was a day of mixed returns for Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday, they made some wise buys on Sunday, bolstering their bowling line-up and buying a talented all-rounder that gives them a really balanced look.</p>.<p>The three-time runners-up picked up teenage Tamil Nadu off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar for just Rs 3.2 - a steal considering his fast-rising stock - and roped in talented pacer Mohd Siraj for Rs 2.6 crore. They also bought international pacers Nathan Coulter-Nile (2.2 crore) and Tim Southee (1 crore) for reasonable sums and ensured decent spin back-ups in the form of Murugan Ashwin (2.2 crore) and using the Right To Match on Pawan Negi (1 crore).</p>.<p>RCB chairman Amrit Thomas was delighted with the way auction went for the team. "All-rounders are very valuable for us. Most teams have picked all-rounders with their own calculations and ideas. We were willing to go higher for Washington but we ended up getting him at a very good price. It was the case with Mohd Siraj too. We're excited about that."</p>.<p>Thomas also opined that the team now has a much stronger bowling unit as compared to previous years. "Every auction is a graduation ceremony to the next edition. People do a lot more research. There are scouts all over the country now. When international uncapped players are bought there's a lot of noise. Most of the teams are tracking others very closely.</p>.<p>"There was a point in time when we had a team we wanted. We were very sorted. We just wanted to pick a few players to cover for injuries. We think we have eight combinations. We have looked at a whole set of statistics to see what it means to economy rate. We understand what works in the death overs. We are using a different set of statistics which I don't think any cricketing team or cricketing publication uses it. We think we can put eight combinations on the field."</p>
