IPL Auction 2024: "Felt Like We Needed To Improve At Home" - Skipper Faf Du Plessis On RCB Strategy At The Auction

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Bengaluru, December 20: Skipper Faf Du Plessis has explained why Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opted for quicks Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson at the IPL Auction 2024 on Tuesday (December 19).

The Royal Challengers, who needed to strengthen their bowling unit after releasing three first choice players from last season, made strategic acquisitions to successfully achieve optimal team balance as the franchise sealed the deal for six players including the two overseas speedsters.

Du Plessis highlighted that it was a busy time for him and the think tank as they invested a lot of time in developing a comprehensive plan to enter the auction with much more clarity. He said the team's focus was to pick the players who will perform well at home.

"After the last season, we felt like we needed to improve at home. One of the things that we did really well was to succeed away from Chinnaswamy," commented Du Plessis.

"So, we went away and put our heads together and what that looks like to be better at home and how can we get better, in what ways can we improve?

"It's definitely the auction and the process of the last two months has been solely around planning to be better at home and the type of bowlers and batsmen that will be successful at home."

Du Plessis also added about how well himself, the new head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat connected with the rest of the leadership group to outline a plan around the auction.

"We spent a lot of time talking about RCB and where we wanted to take the franchise. I think it's always really important that you do your homework and make sure you look at every area and talk it through," Du Plessis added.

"And I feel like our relation, the three of us [Flower and Bobat], obviously with the help of a lot of the team, Freddie [Wilde] the analyst and [Adam] Griffith the bowling coach, Malolan Rangarajan, (Head of Scouting) and even Rajesh V Menon (VP and Head of RCB), I feel like we are very well-connected leadership group," he added.

With a strong nucleus already present in the top order with players like Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar, and having acquired services of all-rounder Cameron Green, RCB's focussed approach in the auction saw them securing more strength in the bowling department.

West Indian aggressive paceman Joseph (Rs 11.50 Crore) became the first buy for RCB at the auction. The 27-year-old holds the record for the best-ever bowling figures in the IPL of 6-12 and can be a quality option in death overs.

The Bangalore-based side later added more speed into their attack by picking up New Zealand's fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (Rs 2 Crore) and England's Tom Curran (Rs 1.50 Crore) for their base prices.

Du Plessis-led side also added Indian left-arm pacer Yash Dayal (Rs 5 Cr) and spin all-rounder Swapnil Singh (Rs 20 lacs) to ensure variation in the bowling attack, which needed addressing following the release of Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal Patel.

To complete their 25-member squad, the Bangalore franchise also bought talented young wicketkeeper Saurav Chauhan (Rs 20 lacs) from Gujarat. Chauhan made the headlines earlier this year in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when he smashed 18-ball 61.

Talking about the auction and the selection of players, Prathmesh Mishra, Chairman of RCB, said: "RCB is committed to playing a fearless brand of cricket which ranks us among the top global franchises.

"With the expertise of Mo Bobat and Andy Flower, we aim to foster a bold and dynamic performance culture in the team. The strategic purchases at the auction reflect their meticulous planning and approach.

"With the strong batting line-up already present, we have now balanced our team with addition of all-rounders and great bowling options to add fire to the pace unit. Overall, we've successfully built a formidable team poised to bring glory in the upcoming season."

Head coach Flower is confident about the bowling attack and hopes they play an important role and also said they have a dangerous batting line-up.

"It's really a strong top four with Virat [Kohli] and Faf [du Plessis], [Rajat] Patidar and [Glenn] Maxwell. Cameron Green who gives us that power somewhere in that top five," the head coach commented.

"We haven't decided exactly where he's going to bat yet, but he gives us that power option somewhere in the top five that is going to be very dangerous.

"Mohammed Siraj will lead the attack and him being fit and firing is going to be very important. We've got some skilful young Indian bowlers there who are going to be growing with us through the season and hopefully playing a really important part for us."

RCB Full Squad for IPL 2024

Retained Players: Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar (from SRH), Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green (from MI).

RCB Buys At IPL Auction 2024: Alzarri Joseph (Rs 11.50 crore), Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore), Tom Curran (Rs 1.5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 2 crore), Swapnil Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Saurav Chauhan (Rs 20 lakh).

Source: Media Release