IPL 2019 Auction: 5 released players RCB should target 

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have released as many as eleven members, including Quinton de Kock and Mandeep Singh who were traded in the trade window, from last season's squad. The franchise retained 14 players from last year.

Some of the big names to be released are Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes and Sarfaraz Khan, none of whom had a fruitful season last year.

The wholesome changes made in the squad were on expected lines as the franchise had yet another poor IPL season last year. Despite having some of the biggest names in World Cricket, RCB has consistently failed to deliver. They chop and change things every year without much success.

They seem to be very confident about their pace department as they have retained as many as 6 fast bowlers. They have also retained 3 spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar and Pawan Negi.

The department which RCB has gone for a complete overhaul is batting. They will have a new look batting line-up as Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers are the only batsmen retained by the franchise. We will look at 5 released players who might be targeted by RCB.

#5 Carlos Brathwaite

Brathwaite did well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in limited opportunities

After a rollicking start to his international career, thanks to his last over heroics in the World T20 final against England in 2016, Carlos Brathwaite hasn't been able to live up to expectations. While his performance for Windies has deteriorated, the all-rounder hasn't really set the stage on fire in the IPL either. Brathwaite has scored just 170 runs at an poor average of 15.45 and picked up 13 wickets in 14 matches in the IPL.

However, the Windies T20 captain did play some crucial innings in the playoffs last season for Sunrisers Hyderabad. There are hardly any doubts about Brathwaite's big-hitting ability and the fact that no ground is big enough for him to clear. Moreover, with RCB releasing two all-rounders in Corey Anderson and Chris Woakes, they might go for Carlos Brathwaite at the auction.

#4 Mohammed Shami

Shami after picking Watson's wicket

Things are going from bad to worst for Mohammed Shami as far as limited-overs cricket is concerned. After being dropped from the Indian ODI team, the pacer has been released by Delhi Daredevils before IPL 2019. However, this was an expected move.

Shami, who joined Delhi Daredevils in 2014, won't be proud of his IPL stats. He has taken just 21 wickets in 35 IPL matches while giving away runs at a high economy of 9.14 runs per over. And despite his poor performance season after season, Shami was retained by Delhi Daredevils four times. But the Daredevils finally ran out of patience as they released Shami this year.

But keeping in mind the fact that Kohli has a fondness for express bowlers, it won't be a surprise if RCB bids for Shami at the auction. Interestingly, RCB did bid for Shami last year too before he was bought by Delhi Daredevils using the RTM card.

Even though RCB has a barrage of fast bowlers, they might want to add an Indian pacer to give them an extra option in case of injury.

#3 Jason Roy

Jason Roy can provide quick starts to RCB

RCB has released quite a few opening batsmen this year. Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, Manan Vohra won't be with RCB this year which means they will have to look for new openers this time around. With the kind of bold approach that RCB follows, Jason Roy might be in contention for that vacant opening spot.

Roy is currently one of the most explosive openers in World Cricket and is a major reason for England's success in limited-overs cricket. Roy started last year's IPL with a bang with a match-winning knock against Mumbai Indians. However, he wasn't able to build on that innings and was eventually dropped from the side after a few matches. Also, it was noticed that he was underutilised by the Delhi Daredevils and already having the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw and Colin Munro in the side, they released Roy this year.

Roy is a dangerous batsman in the top order and can be a valuable addition to RCB's squad.

#2 Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir will be itching to prove his critics wrong

Gautam Gambhir can partner Jason Roy at the top of the order. RCB has always had an explosive batting line-up with big-hitters like Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers around, but what they desperately need is a calm head at the top of the order who can provide stability.

Gambhir has had an illustrious IPL career until last year. After leading KKR to a couple of IPL titles, Gambhir headed back to his home city Delhi in IPL 11. However, because of back-to-back losses, just after 6 matches Gambhir stepped down as the captain of the side and didn't play any match after that.

However, he has been in rich vein of form off late and scored 518 runs in 10 matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Gambhir finished as the second highest run-getter of the tournament. Also, Gambhir in a recent interview said that he is far from over and still has a lot to offer. Considering Gambhir's years of IPL experience, RCB should go for the southpaw.

Also, considering their controversial past, Gautam Gambhir playing alongside Virat Kohli will be an iconic moment in IPL history.

#1 Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell can win matches single-handedly

Glenn Maxwell is a classic example of a player not being able to do justice to his talent. After taking the IPL by storm in 2014 where he scored 552 runs at an outstanding average of 34.50 and a jaw-dropping strike-rate of 187.75, Maxwell has flattened to deceive.

The Australian has failed to live up to his big billing and has often been guilty of playing irresponsibly. After spending 4 seasons with Kings XI Punjab, Maxwell was bought by Delhi Daredevils at the auction for an eye-popping amount of 9 crores. But unfortunately, Maxwell had a forgettable IPL season as he scored just 169 runs in 12 matches. Owing to which he was released by the franchise for IPL 2019.

Even though RCB has Ab de Villiers in the middle order, they will certainly need more reinforcements. And despite his indifferent form, the big show, as Maxwell is famously called, is an out and out match-winner and wins matches on his own.