IPL 2023 Auction: Former India players give light to RCB and KKR auction strategy

Former Indian players Irfan Pathan and Sanjay Manjrekar have given their thoughts on the approach of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2023 auction.

The duo spoke on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan-Auction Special', decoding the strategy of the two teams in the auction.

KKR and RCB are going into the auction with the lowest budget among all the teams. Hence they will have to execute their plans in a smarter way to get the best results in the auction table.

Irfan Pathan on RCB's IPL 2023 Auction strategy:

And former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan spoke exclusively on the RCB strategy. He reckons the team is pretty much settled, but require a bit of polishing ahead of the tournament in 2023.

"Look, as far as I'm concerned, RCB look pretty much a set side, they have fantastic openers, now Virat Kohli's form is well within. They have four players who could actually do both jobs, especially Maxwell and Lomror can bowl in matches, as well as Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed. They both can actually bat as well. So, they have quite a few all-rounders," he said.

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"They have good fast bowlers - Hazlewood and Harshal Patel. The only thing which I thought last year was they were bowling Akash Deep in the powerplay, who's quite young. He bowled pretty decently whenever he got the chance, but if they can get one quality fast bowler who can bowl with the new ball I think that side of RCB will look much better," Pathan further added.

He also added that RCB need a backup of Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood, as the fast-bowler will have an eye on the Ashes series which starts soon after the conclusion of IPL.

Sanjay Manjrekar on KKR's IPL 2023 Auction plan:

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was also in the show and he depicted the KKR auction strategy, criticising their habit of overpaying players.

"See, it's a performance that we've seen KKR with regards to the auction, they've paid seven crores for Mavi as well, so they tend to go slightly overboard, I don't think they are the best team at the auction table," he said.

KKR traded in Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals in the transfer window and Manjrekar says that is a perfect decision as the all-rounder can prove to be a valuable player for the Knights.

"But having said that, I think Shardul Thakur is a proven material, I know he didn't have a great time with Delhi capitals and also for India, not at the top of his game, but in Indian conditions, considering his danger with the bat, perhaps he is somebody that you will say 'oh okay it's worth spending that,'" he added.

"When I look at KKR's playing eleven, Venkatesh Iyer, Gurbaz, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, the batting looks OK, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy are there. So, I think it's some pace support is what they need and understandably that's where they pay the big bucks, so you can understand that," Manjrekar concluded.

The IPL 2023 auction takes place in Kochi on December 23.