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Revealed: Why RCB Did Not Use RTM Card For Mohammed Siraj In IPL Auction?

Sakshi Sharma

Mohammed Siraj in IPL 2024 (Source:@LoyalRcbian, x.com)Mohammed Siraj in IPL 2024 (Source:@LoyalRcbian, x.com)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) decision not to retain Mohammed Siraj ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction had raised eyebrows and was the talk of the town, especially considering the fast bowler’s performance for the franchise 

Mohammed Siraj played for RCB from 2018 to 2024, and his departure from the franchise after seven-years, surprised many, as it was widely expected that RCB would use one of their three RTM cards to keep him in the fold. However, in 2025 Siraj was picked up by Gujarat Titans (GT) for Rs 12.25 crore. 

Mo Bobat Reveals Shocking Reason

In a interview with ESPNCricinfo, RCB's Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, recently shed light on the franchise’s decision-making process. He explained that the decision to not retain Siraj was a difficult one, stemming from RCB's strategic priority to secure Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the auction.

“It is important to recognise what Siraj has done for RCB over a number of years. He’s been a champion player for us. Not retaining him was one of our tougher decisions, if not the toughest. We had Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) quite high on our list, and we wanted to give ourselves a chance to get him. Unfortunately, the way auctions work out, with Bhuvi coming quite late, it’s like a game of poker, to hold your nerve and see whether you can hold on and wait for a player, and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us to get Siraj just because of our priorities, auction order, and the spending pattern. That’s again quite similar for a couple of other players; both Faf (du Plessis) and Will Jacks were definitely guys we were considering right-to-matching (RTM) if things fell a certain way," Bobat was quoted as saying.

He further explained that the team’s priorities, auction order, and spending pattern led to their decision. He mentioned that they could not afford to pursue both Mohammed Siraj and Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the same time due to budget constraints and the auction dynamics. However, after the explanation, it is clear that, Bhuvneshwar was one of RCB’s top targets during the mega auction.