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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) purchased seven players at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction in Kochi on Friday, December 23. Bangalore went into the auction with a purse of ₹8.75 crore. Young England batter Will Jacks was their biggest purchase at the auction for ₹3.2 crore.
RCB also bought England's left-arm seamer Reece Topley for ₹1.9 crore. Their other picks at the IPL mini-auction were Himanshu Sharma (₹20 lakh), Manoj Bhandage (₹20 lakh), Rajan Kumar (₹70 lakh), Avinash Singh (₹60 lakh) and Sonu Yadav (₹20 lakh).
Despite having a comparatively low amount to spend on the bidding table, they still returned with a purse of ₹1.75 crore following the conclusion of the auction.
RCB’s predicted XI for IPL 2023
With the IPL 2023 auction coming to an end, the next step for the franchises will be to try and figure out what could be their best combination in the upcoming edition.
On that note, here’s our strongest playing 11 for the Bangalore franchise after the IPL 2023 auction.
Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj.
During the auction, RCB director Mike Hesson opened up to the host broadcasters about their thinking behind the franchise's purchases. He explained:
“We know the skills and attributes he [Topley] brings. We were delighted to pick him up for 1.90 crore and gave us some flexibility. We thought he would be 3-4 crore and that allowed us to bid for Jacks.
“In smaller auctions the prices can be significantly higher than the big auctions. We knew Stokes and Curran would be higher than what we could afford. We made the playoffs and had a pretty strong side, we spent a lot of time before the big auction and we expect them to give us good returns. We’re very happy to retain the 18 players.”
Hesson also hinted that Du Plessis and Kohli are likely to open the batting for the team in IPL 2023.
RCB squad after IPL 2023 Auction
Below is the updated Royal Challengers Bangalore squad after the IPL 2023 auction:
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav.
