IPL Auction 2020: 3 players RCB will look to buy back from their released list

The IPL 2020 auction is all set to take place on 19 December in Kolkata. A total of 332 cricketers will go under the hammer; out of them 186 players are from India whereas the remaining 146 hail from other countries.

The franchises have already released their respective retention lists, with a few releases being made because of the players' high price tags. Teams often sign their recently released players for a lower amount at the auction, as the think-tank tries to rectify its previous year’s mistake.

Royal Challengers Bangalore committed a lot of errors in the previous auction but this year the duo of Simon Katich and Mike Hesson will try to pick their players smartly. Here, we look at three players that RCB will look to buy back from their released list.

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#3 Kulwant Khejroliya

Kulwant Khejroliya

27-year-old Indian fast bowler Kulwant Khejroliya has been one of the finest domestic players in recent years. Though Khejroliya did not get enough opportunities to prove his worth in IPL 2019, RCB may want to buy him back because of his domestic exploits.

Khejroliya grabbed the cricket world’s attention during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19 where he won the quarterfinal match for Delhi with his mind-blowing spell. The left-arm bowler scalped 6 wickets while conceding 31 runs in 10 overs, which even included a hat-trick.

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His T20 stats are also impressive, where he has grabbed 17 wickets from 15 matches at an economy rate of 7.49.

Since he is a left-arm pacer, he would add variety to the bowling attack. RCB are severely short on quality bowling options in their lineup and so they could offer Khejroliya a contract once again.

#2 Marcus Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis

For a while now, Royal Challengers Bangalore have been in need a fast bowling all-rounder who deliver consistently in both departments. To that end, they had signed the Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis in IPL 2019 during the trade window.

The decision seemed to have worked in their favour as Stoinis had a decent outing in the previous season. He got a chance to be a part of the Bold Army’s match squad in 10 matches, in which he smashed 211 runs at an average of 52.75 and a strike rate of 135.25.

Stoinis got two wickets with the help of his right-arm pace in IPL 2019. His best bowling figures were 1/13 while his economy rate was 8.70.

As Hesson mentioned, RCB let him go purely because of his high price. It is quite probable, therefore, that the franchise will consider buying him back at a lower price in the upcoming auction.

#1 Shimron Hetmyer

Shimron Hetmyer

Royal Challengers Bangalore may have committed a huge mistake by releasing the rising star Shimron Hetmyer.

RCB had bought the West Indian batsman for a whopping amount of ₹4.2 crore after his impressive performances against India last year. However, Hetmyer failed to prove his worth in the opportunities he got.

He played just five matches in IPL 2019 in which he managed to aggregate 90 runs. His highest individual score came in RCB’s last league stage match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he smashed 75 runs off just 47 balls to guide his team to a consolation win.

Even though Hetmyer's batting average and strike-rate did not meet the expectations, it is evident that he has huge potential - which can translate to buckets of runs in the future.

The left-handed batsman has been phenomenal in the ongoing India vs West Indies series. In the first T20 of the series he smashed 56 runs at a strike-rate of 136.59. Apart from that, he also played a handy knock of 41 runs off 24 balls in the final T20.

He continued his fine form in the 50-overs format by smashing a century in the first ODI. His innings of 139 runs from 106 balls, comprising of 11 fours and 7 sixes, won the game for the West Indian side.

Considering Hetmyer's recent form, RCB might look to buy him back in the auction.