'Don't Think They Got It Right' - Anil Kumble On RCB's Auction Strategy

image-lqdaz0cuAnil Kumble (Twitter)

Anil Kumble was critical of Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) auction strategy for the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The former RCB skipper questioned the franchise's current think-tank on their doubtful choices made at the mini-auction held in Dubai on Tuesday (December 19). 

RCB had entered the auction with a decent sum of INR 23.20 crores after undergoing a famous trade which brought in Australian allrounder Cameron Green from Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the bidding tussle. 

Having released their entire first line of attack in the form of Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel, the popular franchise was expected to rebuild a strong first-choice bowling unit. 

Even though they went wholeheartedly after Australian skipper and allrounder Pat Cummins until dropping out of a bumper deal, RCB eventually had to settle with lower-profile overseas names of Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, and Tom Curran while young Yash Dayal emerged as their biggest Indian acquisition. 

Kumble On RCB's Disappointing IPL 2024 Auction 

While the franchise still boasts of a power-packed top 7 with the bat, their longstanding problem on the bowling front remained unsolved despite undergoing a full day's worth of purchase at the IPL 2024 mini-auction. 

Kumble felt it was a big missed opportunity to truly rebuild a strong bowling attack and underlined the absence of a quality spinner in their ranks stating the think-tank did little to provide skipper Faf du Plessis enough options to bank upon. 

"I think I agree with this in terms of the rating, I don't think they go beyond seven, because when you look at an auction, you're looking to better what you have done in the past or released. The three bowlers they released, if you look at Hasaranga, Hazlewood and Harshal Patel, have you picked players better than them?"


"They still require a spinner. They don't have a spinner. Even at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, it’s the wicket-taking spinners who always perform better. So they don't have that."


"They'll have to lean back on Karn Sharma, who hardly played last season. He was the impact bowler for them, but didn't play all the matches. So it's a huge ask and then they've made a trade as well. So it's not easy without a spinner. I don't think they got it quite right," he added.