IPL 2018: 5 players Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) should not retain

A fairy tale mid-season comeback, backed by the supernatural form of Virat Kohli, had formed the crux of Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL 2016 story, and had made them a solid contender to go the whole hog and win the elusive title in 2017.

Yet, what transpired the very next year couldn't have been more contrasting.

Royal Challengers' form deserted them quicker than Kingfishers Airbuses from airport terminals, even as luck vanished before the season, taking with it the injured star duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. A clueless, imbalanced outfit wilted before the first ball was bowled, and had lost its soul despite their return.

Fresh auctions offer new hope for the franchise that have always had big names on their roster, but never the consistency of other successful franchises.

Here are five names that the side should not retain for the upcoming auctions:

Travis Head

The four-foreigner quota gave Travis a massive Headache

In his debut season with the Royal Challengers in 2016, Head was a victim of the four-foreigners quota, as a well-stocked top-order prevented the Australian from getting a regular run. He managed to usurp Chris Gayle for a game or two but could muster only three games in the franchise's largely successful season.

A pugnacious batsman who can ride the storm or calm it if needed, Head had a much more prominent role to play in 2017, with both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers missing the start of the season, and Chris Gayle struggling to put bat on ball.

Yet, Head just couldn't get going. That he could hit the big ones was evident, but the consistency was sorely lacking beyond a few sporadic cameos. Except for one fifty, Head continued to run out of partners while being shunted up and down the order throughout the season.

Even next year, with the quota rule in place, Head might have trouble breaking into the first-XI consistently.

Tymal Mills

Mills was one of the most expensive failures of IPL 2017

Touted as a single key to a plethora of RCB's bowling woes, Tymal Mills came a cropper, unable to mimic any of his famed death-bowling expertise in the red and black jersey. Forming the spearhead of a thin-as-rails bowling attack, Mills couldn't do justice to the whopping cheque he received in the auctions, costing Rs. 2.4 crore for each of the five wickets he took in five games.

Erratic with his line and unable to force pressure in the initial overs, Mills leaked runs at 8.57 an over, his back-of-the-hand slower balls doing more harm than good to his own team.

Roped in by the franchise after only four international appearances, the off-colour Mills burned a hole in the side's pockets while being unable to fill the boots of the indispensable Mitchell Starc, whose absence was felt like never before.

Pawan Negi

The big bucks couldn't translate into big performances for Negi

Despite having Iqbal Abdulla, a steady performer last season, in their ranks, the Challengers opted for another left-arm spinner in Pawan Negi for the 2017 season. While Negi could make better use of the bat than Abdulla, his insipid performances for the Delhi Daredevils the previous year must have made the franchise think twice before handing him a Rs. 1 crore paycheck.

Lady Luck walked right into his house in 2016, when an India call-up for the World T20 welcomed him. What followed was an astonishing run of fortune in the auctions, as a fortuitous Negi pocketed a mind-boggling cheque of Rs. 8.5 crore from Delhi.

The big bounty of money, however, fell right on his head, as he managed one wicket in eight games, and scored 57 runs in total in a shambolic season.

Next year, for the Challengers, his bat stayed quiet, as he gathered only 144 runs from 12 games to hurt the middle-order even more.

He ended with the most wickets for RCB in the season (16 from 12 games), but the side won't see much sense in shelling out Rs. 7 crore on him, if they use him even as their third retention, for they can acquire him for a cheaper price if needed.

Shane Watson

Time for Watson to head out?

When Shane Watson was acquired by RCB in 2016, he was a just-retired T20I star who had performed admirably in his last international assignment (the World T20). With Virat Kohli flying high with his unmatched batting prowess in IPL 2016, Watson's swashbuckling batting was put on the sidelines, even as his bowling started showing signs of depletion: he managed a solitary wicket in eight games.

Come 2017, and Watson, a year into retirement and rusty from the lack of games, was suddenly thrust into the captaincy's role, with both Kohli and de Villiers indisposed, and an erratic Gayle not promising a first-XI start.

Watson floundered, unable to carry the team along, burdened by his own misfiring bat. When Kohli and de Villiers returned, Watson became a punching bag as he swung between the top and middle order, trying to find a place where his bat might gather runs.

The only solace was his bowling, that stood out from the rest of the attack's shoddy showings, helping him capture 20 wickets from 16 games.

He did get off to a flier in the 2017-18 BBL season, scoring a quickfire 46-ball 77 and looked in pristine form with the bat.

With the ongoing BBL season most probably his last, Watson, who'll be touching 37 by the time the next IPL starts, might not garner the same excitement that he might have during his international days.

Kedar Jadhav

Jadhav's flexible batting style is tailor-made for the T20 format

Jadhav's flexible batting style is tailor-made for the T20 format: laden with an unorthodox technique, the slightly-built Jadhav can find gaps with ease and thump a few deliveries if the need arises. However, his temperament has always carried a question mark with it, for he tends to throw his wicket away at the most crucial of junctures, a folly that has seen him go in and out of the Indian middle-order.

While he is a handy option to have in the side, Jadhav, at 33, won't elicit much excitement and could be shelved by the franchise for younger options. His fielding has been indifferent, bordering on unreliable, and his makeshift wicket-keeping skills might not be enough for him to be retained.

This season, when the team required him to beef up the fragile middle-order, he failed to create enough impact averaging 22 with just one fifty to his name. While he has been fortunate to pluck wickets with his benign off-spin in ODIs, he might not get the similar liberty to bowl in T20s, when challenged with other batting options that can chip in with the ball too.