Royal Challengers Bangalore resemble a solid team for the ninth edition of the IPL. RCB conducted some great business in the 2016 IPL Player auction in Bengaluru earlier in the month, buying quality players such as Shane Watson, Stuart Binny and Travis Head.
RCB owner Vijay Mallya was pleased with the outcome of the auction, as they got the players of their choice. The Bengaluru franchise wanted to sign some quality all-rounders and with Watson and Binny, they have two exceptional ones. RCB spent Rs 9.5 crore ($1.3 million) for Watson, which turned out ot be the most expensive buy during the auction.
"We are delighted with the outcome of the auction. We needed all-rounders and secured both Watson and Binny. We now have a perfect balance. We have a superb and formidable team combination, with plenty of options for Virat to choose from," Cricbuzz quoted Mallya as saying.
RCB, with an array of world-class cricketers, are one of the favourites to win IPL 2016. Prior to the auction, RCB had already retained their top players such as AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Adam Milne and more, and the squad has been strengthened with the players they signed during the auction. Apart from Watson, Head and Binny, RCB bought Kane Richardson, Samuel Badree, Iqbal Abdullah and Vikas Tokas.
With such stars in their squad, there might be a problem of plenty while selecting the final 11 players for a game. Only four foreigners are allowed in the playing eleven. It remains to be seen, which foreign stars they are going to have to bench. Captain Kohli and coach Daniel Vettori have a huge problem on their hands, but Mallya believes that the team management will pick the team depending on the wicket.
"We have a solid team of exceptional talent. Virat and Dan have the luxury of choice now depending on conditions," Mallya said.
RCB have an exceptional batting lineup, with settled international cricketers such as Watson, Gayle, de Villiers and Kohli. They were eager to strengthen their batting lineup further, as they bid for their former batsman Yuvraj Singh during the auction, but had to give up when Sunrisers Hyderabad stepped up the ante.
"We bid for Yuvraj up to a point when the bidding slowed down and he represented great value. When the price started escalating we dropped out," Mallya said.
