The 2020 IPL season ended for Royal Challengers Bangalore as many a season in the past has ended. With a series of defeats, no trophy and questions over Virat Kohli’s captaincy. But the early part of the season was so impressive for the team that they managed to re-enter the post-season after a couple of poor campaigns. The way it ended clouded over the fact RCB actually had a pretty season overall.
Results in last three seasons
| Season | League stage finish | Playoff result |
|---|---|---|
| IPL 2018 | 6th | |
| IPL 2019 | 8th | |
| IPL 2020 | 4th | Lost in Eliminator |
Speaking on Star Sports when the retentions were confirmed, former New Zealand and CSK all-rounder Scott Styris was stunned looking at the names that RCB had let go. He could not quite come to terms with the fact that the team chose to go for a massive overhaul despite a playoff finish. But in essence, except for Chris Morris perhaps, the team management did not let go of any indispensable member of the squad (and Aaron Finch simply did not do enough to merit retention).
Players released after IPL 2020: Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Gurkeerat Mann
Player traded in: Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams from DC
RCB squad for IPL 2021 ahead of auction
| Batsmen | Bowlers | Wicketkeepers | Allrounders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | Mohammed Siraj | AB de Villiers | Washington Sundar |
| Devdutt Padikkal | Navdeep Saini | Josh Phillipe | Harshal Patel |
| Pavan Deshpande | Yuzvendra Chahal | Daniel Sams | |
| Pavan Deshpande | |||
| Shahbaz Ahmed | |||
| Adam Zampa | |||
| Kane Richardson |
There could be quite a bit of inflating and deflating going on from the RCB table. They have the most slots left to fill in the squad (even if they don’t *have* to, like they left a few empty last season). There is no doubt that the focus would be on getting three good overseas players to improve their existing Indian core.
Salary cap remaining: Rs 35.40 crores
Overall slots remaining: 11
Overseas slots remaining: 3
Areas to target
- Middle-order power-hitter
- Indian wicketkeeper
- Top order overseas batsman
- Spin-bowling allrounder
IPL 2021: Purse & squad details before auction
| Franchise | No of Players | No of Overseas Players | Purse remaining (Rs crores) | Available Slots | Overseas Slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSK | 19 | 7 | 19.9 | 6 | 1 |
| DC | 17 | 5 | 13.4 | 8 | 3 |
| KXIP | 16 | 3 | 53.2 | 9 | 5 |
| KKR | 17 | 6 | 10.75 | 8 | 2 |
| MI | 18 | 4 | 15.35 | 7 | 4 |
| RR | 16 | 5 | 37.85 | 9 | 3 |
| RCB | 14 | 5 | 35.4 | 11 | 3 |
| SRH | 22 | 7 | 10.75 | 3 | 1 |
The auction will be telecast on Star Sports Network on 18 February from 3 pm IST.
