IPL 2026 Auction: RCB go shopping for fast bowling depth

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s long-awaited dream of becoming Indian Premier League champions was finally realised after an 18-year wait at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in June. 

The RCB representatives, who usually walk out of auction rooms all smiles and then have gone on to release their valuable assets ahead of the new auction after average returns during the tournament, will break the duck this time around.

The defending champions have their first eleven almost set, with just two names (Liam Livingstone & Mayank Agarwal) not retained from the starting team that won the final against Punjab Kings. They have also released another Karnataka interest in Manoj Bhandage. 

Having retained as many as 17 players and investing 108.6 crore on them, the Challengers have only little shopping to do and the think tank will take a seat at the high-stakes auction table with one priority: fast-bowling depth.

With Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the Ashes after an Achilles injury and expected to target the T20 World Cup early next year for a comeback, a fast bowler who can swing the ball both ways and is a wicket-taking option in the powerplay will be on RCB’s mind. Their eyes could be Matt Henry or Jacob Duffy.

South Africa’s Gerald Coetzee is also a worthy gambling option. The Challengers will also require a backup for left-arm quick Yash Dayal, who has had things happening away from the sport and has not played competitive cricket since IPL, having recently skipped the UP T20 League. 

Mangesh Yadav and Naman Tiwari, two left-arm pacers from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, have been making the right noises in their State T20 leagues and could be options worth exploring for RCB. 

What has hurt RCB the most over the years was the runs bled by the bowling department and with a few delicate options this time, they could also put all the eggs on the Matheesha Pathirana basket to complement Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

They will also be on the lookout for a proven IPL asset to challenge Devdutt Padikkal’s spot and could bring in players like Sarfaraz Khan or Rahul Tripathi. 

Bengaluru, having released Liam Livingstone, will want to add some muscle, such as Michael Bracewell or Jason Holder, to an already intense finishing artillery of Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd.  Slightly thin on their spin options, RCB will be tempted to go for either Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar as a Suyash Sharma upgrade. While they might seem over the budget, they could also fall back on Karn Sharma.