IPL Auction 2025: Straying Away From Spending Big - RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat on Change in Strategy

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is straying away from the old strategy of spending heavy on a small amount of players as they look to build a potential title winning and balanced squad, the franchises Director of Cricket Mo Bobat said after day 1 of IPL Mega Auction 2025.

Going in with the second biggest purse into the two-day auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, RCB stayed away from entering a bidding war except when they went for Venkatesh Iyer for over Rs 20 Crore before the all-rounder ended up at Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 23.75 Crore.

RCB also went after the most expected target in KL Rahul, but gave up on the Karnataka batter at an early stage as the franchise drew flak from some sections of the fan base as well as experts.

The franchise also opted against using their Right to Match cards for players like Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj and Vyshak Vijaykumar, who all represented the team in the last season.

Post the first day of the auction, RCB's director of cricket Bobat reflected on the franchise's approach and revealed why they did not go big on players, saying they want to change an age old strategy of the club that has not worked for several seasons now.

"Let's be honest. RCB has never won the IPL and we've always gone with a strategy of spending a large amount of money on a small number of players. And we wanted to change that to build a more balanced squad this year," Bobat said in a video posted by RCB.

RCB did spend over Rs 10 Crore on three players at the auction in the form of Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, England wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt and Indian stumper Jitesh Sharma.

The Bengaluru-based side also landed uncapped Indian duo of Rasikh Dhar and Suyash Sharma for Rs 6 Crore and Rs 2.20 Crore respectively after pulling off a steal deal to buy England all-rounder Liam Livingstone in the marqee sets.

RCB batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik also reflected on the addition of Jitesh and the two key foreign players in Salt and Hazlewood, and why the franchise bought the international stars.

"Phil Salt, what have I got to say? He is explosive. He is someone who can take on in the power play. Great attitude. Nice guy to have around in the team. Everything about him says he is the kind of guy that RCB would love to have," Karthik said in another video posted by RCB on X.

"Everybody from RCB and all the fans have all said let's go for Josh Hazlewood and here we have him. Josh Hazlewood, it was all about who can we get and we got Josh Hazlewood. I think all the Bengaluru should be smiling at that option because we have seen what he can do in the year that he came, we qualified and he was such a major and integral part of that attack," Karthik was quoted in a release from RCB as saying.

"He's home where he belongs. Cannot wait to see him set the pitch ablaze at Chinnaswamy! #PlayBold #nmmRCB #IPLAuction #BidForBold #IPL2025 #JoshHazlewood," RCB wrote on X.