Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav Or Jaydev Unadkat - Which Indian Pacer Will RCB Target In IPL 2024 Auction?

Add as a preferred source on Google

Having released seven pace bowling options from last season, including starter Harshal Patel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will definitely look to add to the seam-bowling department at the upcoming IPL 2024 Auction.

Among the seven released pace options, only Harshal and Josh Hazlewood were notable names, while David Willey and Wayne Parnell, who played a bit part role were also let go. RCB also released the likes of Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh and Siddharth Kaul, who were unused.

RCB in fact released three immediate picks of their bowling attack in the form of Harshal, Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga, leading to the expansion of their purse, but part of that fund was spent on the trade of all-rounder Cameron Green, who can also be one of their pace options next season.

In addition, RCB also retained Reece Topley, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Akash Deep, Rajan Kumar and Mohammed Siraj as their five pace options in the squad. But they will still look at the auction to stregnthen their bowling unit.

One area RCB definitley will look at strengthening is the spin department following the release of Hasaranga. They only have Karn Sharma and Himanshu Sharma as frontline spinning options with Glenn Maxwell and Mahipal Lomror as other options.

While they may look at spin options, RCB will be keen to add in the pace department with the release of three overseas pacers. The Bangalore-based side may look at someone like Mitchell Starc, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins or they may even opt to bring back Hazlewood or Willey.

However, the Indian pace bowling attack seems to be short on numbers following the release of four players in the department. So, who will RCB look at in the auction pool to bolster their pace attack?

Who is RCB's ideal pick in IPL 2024 Auction?

Harshal Patel: RCB may look to bring back the Haryana pacer at a lower than the Rs 10 Crore they paid for him in the IPL 2022 mega auction. They could even look at other options with the retention of Vyshak Vijay Kumar, who has similar if not better variations than Harshal.

Umesh Yadav: The Vidarbha pacer was released by KKR, but is still a good new ball option in Indian pitches. He has already had a stint with RCB earlier, and may be handed a return if there is no bidding war.

Shardul Thakur: The pacer, who was part of the Indian World Cup squad, was released by Kolkata Knight Riders. RCB will definitely have him on their wishlist as he is pretty handy with the bat as well, but will face competition from most sides for his services.

All the three would be ideal options for RCB at the right price, but with their base price set at Rs 2 Crore, they may be out of reach for the Bangalore-based side as they possess a purse of just Rs 23.25 Crore, needing to fill 6 slots, including 3 overseas in the auction.

So, what could RCB's strategy at the IPL 2024 Auction table be on December 19 in Dubai? Will they be content with what they have got in terms of Indian pace options and go all out for overseas spin and pace options? Is there any other Indian pace option they can look at?

Jaydev Unadkat: The left-arm seamer has had stint with RCB earlier and can still be a decent option with the new ball. But RCB already have Topley in their ranks and will definitely go for Starc in the auction. The move could still happen depending on some of the moves in the opening sets.

Chetan Sakariya: Unadkat's teammate in Saurashtra is another good option with the new ball, and has been decent in the death. So, this makes him another fall back option for most sides, including RCB. The base price for the two left-armers is set at Rs 50 Lakh.

Other interesting options RCB could look at if they fail to get their main targets in the opening few sets are Jammu & Kashmir pacer Rasikh Salam, who has played in the IPL before, and also Siddharth Kaul, who was released by RCB.