IPL 2025 Auction: 3 Biggest Blunders Made By RCB

Probuddha Bhattacharjee

KL Rahul in IPL [Source: @investor_sr33, @sujeetsuman1991/x.com]KL Rahul in IPL [Source: @investor_sr33, @sujeetsuman1991/x.com]

The IPL 2025 mega auction is drawing to a close and it has been an intense action for the couple of days. While a few teams have done well in these couple of days, some of the teams have failed to live upto the expectations. 

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been one of the two teams who have looked to fill up their holes from the previous editions. The management stressed on middle-order and lower-order batters and also tried to include some quality bowlers in their team. However, there were a few blunders that they made and here is a look at three of them.

3. Going After Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya has been taken as an all-rounder in the team. The Indian all-rounder has been a match winner for the Mumbai Indians previously. In fact, Pandya's numbers are also quiet good at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home ground of the RCB. In five matches at the venue, he has scored 106 runs at a strike rate of 127.70 at an average of 35.30. With the ball, Pandya has picked up only two wickets in seven innings, however, his economy was just 6.58.

Though the numbers look good for Pandya at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, his consistency has been a problem. Even with the ball he has not been very effective in the last couple of seasons. He has only picked up only 19 wickets in 29 matches in the last two seasons. Thus this buy looked a bit overpriced and might be taken as one of the blunders for RCB.

2. Not Using The RTM For Will Jacks

The English all-rounder played a big role in RCB's dramatic comeback in IPL 2024 during the second half of the tournament. In the whole tournament, Will Jacks scored 230 runs in 8 matches at an average of 32.90 and a strike rate of 175.60. Keeping his contribution in mind, Jacks had established himself as an integral part of the set-up. 

Despite the contributions Jacks made, RCB did not use the RTM on him after MI bought the English all-rounder for INR 5.25 Cr. Even if the MI management asked for INR 10 Cr, it would have been a profitable deal for the Royal Challengers. Given his batting abilities and his ability to contribute with the ball, not buying Will Jacks was a blunder for the RCB.

1. Not Bidding Hard For KL Rahul

When KL Rahul was released by LSG, it was pitched that the Indian batter will be bought by RCB and it will be one of the most memorable homecoming stories in the auction. RCB went after him till INR 10.50 Cr but then gave up. 

Given KL Rahul could have solved their opening problem and also the captaincy dilemma, RCB should have stayed in the bidding war for KL Rahul longer. The fact that they decided to give up for him and allowed the Punjab Kings to pick him up for INR 14 Cr was the biggest blunder that RCB made.