3 players RCB should drop in IPL 2019

Another edition of the IPL is done and dusted. It was a season of pulsating cricket between bat and ball. Two perennial IPL teams in Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals returned after serving a ban of two years and CSK exemplified as to why they are one of the greatest franchise in the history of T20 Cricket. The Dhoni-led side was deservingly crowned IPL champions, taking their championship tally to three (2010, 2011 and now 2018).

CSK's win also underlined one thing yet again that a strong Indian core is a cornerstone to a team's success in the IPL. The Royal Challengers Bangalore's suffering yet another disappointing campaign is a case in point. Yet again, the Kohli-led franchise went for high profile cricketers at the expense of local Karnataka talent.

On the note, in this blog today, let us look at the three auction blunders; the failure of overseas stars coupled with astounding over-dependence on Kohli and De Villiers meant RCB could never work out their team combination, and eventually missed out of the playoff spot for the second year in a row.

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#3 Corey Anderson

Anderson had a forgettable 2018 IPL

Corey Anderson looked a pale shadow of himself this season for RCB and could only muster 17 runs in three opportunities. While his batting lacked the tenacity, his bowling was lackluster, to say the least. The Kiwi all-rounder came in as a replacement for the injured Australian fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Anderson conceded 115 runs off the 52 balls he delivered at an economy of 13.26, with just three wickets, and it would not come as a surprise if RCB drops the swashbuckling all-rounder in 2019 in favour of a returning Coulter-Nile.

#2 Sarfaraz Khan

Another torrid season for Sarfaraz.

One of the biggest surprises of the 2018 IPL was when Sarfaraz Khan was one of three retained cricketers named by the Royal Challengers Bangalore alongside Kohli and De Villiers.

After making an impressive debut in the 2015 IPL (111 runs in 13 matches at a strike-rate of 156.33), Sarfaraz, the then youngest player to debut in the IPL, Sarfaraz's had an abysmal 2016 campaign, having scored just 66 runs in five games, and was eventually dropped mid-way through the season with skipper Kohli openly admitting that the youngster needed to focus on his fitness.

It was with this predicament that the retention of Sarfaraz raised even more eyebrows ahead of a certain KL Rahul, and it was testified to the hilt when Sarfaraz endured another torrid season with the bat and could only muster 51 runs in seven games at an average of 10.20.

#1 Brendon McCullum

Baz had a season to forget!

Ten years ago, Brendon McCullum played one of the greatest innings against the very opponent whom he represented in the eleventh edition, the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Having retired from the International Cricketer, the swashbuckling Former Kiwi Captain looked a pale shadow of himself in IPL 2018.

McCullum featured in six matches for RCB, before eventually being dropped, and could only muster 134 runs at an average of 21.16, with his highest score being 43.

With age not on McCullum's side, and Moeen Ali (one fifty in five matches at a strike-rate of 167.39) doing well in the limited opportunities that he got at the latter stage of the tournament, RCB might just let go of Brendon in favor of a fast-bowler in a bid to add potency to their attack.

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Do you agree with our list? Disagree? Tell us in the comments below!