What’s the story?
England’s T20 specialist pace bowler Tymal Mills would be best suited for the Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit for the upcoming 10th edition of the Indian Premier League. He is looking forward to playing in the tournament as it will be his first time.
“I'm available for the whole of the competition, whereas some other guys aren't for various commitments internationally and domestically, so I'm sure this series will either help or hinder my reputation,” said Mills in an interview with Espn.
In case you didn’t know...
Earlier today, RCB ended their association with their spearhead Mitchell Starc just one day before the auction. The news came as a huge surprise to many as Starc was supposed to be leading the line for Bangalore. He missed the 2016 edition as well due to an injury. On top of his decision to forego playing in the tournament this year, he will also take no part in the auction.
Mills made his T20 international debut against Sri Lanka last year, and also played all the three T20Is against India earlier this year. He achieved reasonable success as he picked up a wicket in all three matches and did not give away too many runs.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017 Auction Live Updates
The heart of the matter
RCB have suffered a lot of bowling woes in the past, and this was one of the main reason’s why they lost out to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final of the tournament last year. Without Starc, they do not have any foreign pace bowler as they released Chris Jordan as well. They will be looking to fix their bowling issues this year and give it all they have to achieve their first ever IPL win.
What’s next?
Along with 351 others, Mills would go under the hammer tomorrow with the auction taking place in Bangalore. He has a base price of Rs. 50 lakhs. The tournament will begin on April 5th with last year’s finalists RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad taking on each other at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad.
Sportskeeda’s Take
With Starc out of the picture, RCB would be looking to purchase a foreign pacer to fill his boots. Starc was RCB’s best bowler in 2015, and his presence was clearly missed last year as their bowling unit did not fare too well throughout the tournament.
Mills is one of the most explosive English fast bowlers today and his ability to bowl at an average speed of 145 kmph is something which would surely interest the Bangalore outfit, and he could be the perfect replacement for the Australian.
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