IPL 2020 Auction: 3 areas of concern for RCB and who they should target

The trade window ahead of the IPL 2020 auction saw quite a few players shifting franchises as six of the eight franchises - barring the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore - opted to make use of the opportunity to sort out their strategies ahead of the auction on 19 December 2019 in Kolkata.

Post the deadline day of the trading window, the list of released and retained players created quite a buzz, but none like the strategy played by RCB, who opted to release 12 players, including the likes of seasoned pacer Dale Steyn, West Indian big-hitting youngster Shimron Hetmyer and Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.

Having retained just two foreign players in AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali apart from big names such as Virat Kohli, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shivam Dube, RCB will easily be the busiest team in the auction, needing to fill 12 player slots, including six overseas players' slots.

With a purse worth ₹27.90 Crore in hand, RCB might not have the luxury of breaking the bank to secure the services of quality players, and they will certainly need to play it smart to beef up their side with some useful additions.

On that note, we take a look at three areas which RCB will need to target in the player auction.

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#3 A batting anchor in the middle order

Will Robin Uthappa be the anchor in RCB's batting unit?

With RCB having retained Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli and 19-year-old sensation Devdutt Padikkal, they certainly have multiple options to get them off to a good start at the top of the order.

However, with their batting having revolved around Kohli and de Villiers for a majority of the past few seasons, RCB might look to sign an Indian or foreign batsman who can stitch together useful knocks and play the role of the anchor in the middle order.

While they have had specialist middle-order batsmen such as Shimron Hetmyer, Mandeep Singh among others in the recent past, none of them have been able to stay at the crease for long, a major outcome of which the lower middle order has been exposed early.

Hence, in this auction, RCB could target someone like Robin Uthappa, Rahul Tripathi or Eoin Morgan, who are all capable of taking the game till the slog overs, post which the big-hitters can take over and launch at the death.

#2 A big-hitting all-rounder

Will Carlos Brathwaite be a good fit at RCB?

RCB as a side, have on most occasions impressed at the start of the innings, but it has been in the death overs that they have lacked a powerful striker to get them the extra 20-30 runs which can hand them the momentum either while setting a score or in a chase.

The Virat Kohli-led side roped in the services of Hetmyer and Shivam Dube to play the role of the aggressors last season, but that move did not work too well as both southpaws failed to make an impact.

Having retained Dube in addition to exciting Punjab-based batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann, RCB will also want to add some international flavour to their lower middle-order, and they have quite a few names to pick from.

This year's auctions will see the likes of James Neesham, Carlos Brathwaite among others throwing their hat in the ring, and RCB will certainly need to sign a quality big-hitter to provide Kohli and de Villiers the cushion to play freely at the start, and in the middle overs.

#1 Quality seam bowler

Will RCB re-sign Mitchell Starc?

One of the biggest issues that has plagued RCB from the past few seasons is the inability of their bowling attack to stem the flow of runs in the slog overs. While Yuzvendra Chahal has managed to hold a tight noose over the batsmen in the middle overs, the RCB pacers haven't been able to maintain the momentum towards the end.

With Washington Sundar making a mark as a useful powerplay overs bowler and Umesh Yadav capable of tormenting the batsmen early on with some serious pace and swing, RCB could do well with a pacer who can be a game-changer in the slog overs.

While RCB do have two more seamers in Navdeep Saini and Mohammad Siraj, both of them leaked runs at the death, a pressing issue which led to the side's ouster from the league stages.

Certainly, there are quite a few pacers who will be a part of the auction this time, including ex-RCB players in Mitchell Starc and Dale Steyn. While the T20 format certainly does not favour the bowlers, the experience that these international stars bring to the forefront could potentially prove to seal the gaping holes in the bowling unit.