Virat Kohli might be having the time of his life both as a batsman and as captain, but come April-May of this year, he will want to clear one particular title off his trophy-winning wishlist. After the Royal Challengers Bangalore came agonisingly close to winning their first IPL title last year, it will be let's-do-it-this-time for Kohli's side with the IPL 2017 auction set to play a major role in deciding just how well-rounded a team this will be for the season 10.
After powering their way into the final, RCB could not clear the last hurdle, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad proving to be just a little too strong.
What RCB will want to do now is to make sure they take note of every possibility and make sure they are covered in all departments.
Here is a look at the current squad, released players, auction needs and the players RCB, who only have Rs 12.825 crore to spend, are likely to buy.
Current squad: Virat Kohli (C), Chris Gayle, AB De Villiers, KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Samuel Badree, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mitchell Starc, Harshal Patel, Adam Milne, S Arvind, Iqbal Abdullah, Avesh Khan.
Players released: Varun Aaron, Abu Nechim, Vikramjeet Malik, Praveen Dubey, Akshay Karnewar, Vikas Tokas, Parvez Rasool, Chris Jordan, David Wiese, Kane Richardson.
Maximum number of players RCB can buy: 7 (only one overseas slot left).
Overseas fast bowler or fast bowling all-rounder: With just one slot left, RCB might want to cover for the injury-prone Mitchell Starc and Adam Milne. While Starc will be one of the first names in the playing XI if fully fit, Kohli and Daniel Vettori will want to make sure they have enough backup options available as well.
Someone like a Trent Boult might be a good option, so will Pat Cummins or Tymal Mills, while they could go in for Jordan again.
For the fast bowling all-rounder option, Ben Stokes is the obvious choice, especially if Shane Watson starts to face fitness issues. But with the small purse available, RCB might have to settle for a Corey Anderson, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera or Jimmy Neesham.
Indian spinner: Only Yuzvendra Chahal is the recognised Indian spinner in the squad. Kedar Jadhav can contribute, but Kohli will probably want one more Indian option. Having released Parvez Rasool, they might look at someone like a Pawan Negi, if he comes in for the right price, or M Ashwin.
Indian fast bowler: Is a pace attack of Harshal Patel, S Arvind and Avesh Khan enough to win a title? At the end of the day, you need to rely on your Indian players, considering seven of them will always play. And Patel, Arvind and Avesh, who is really young, might not be enough in the pace bowling department, even if RCB have Starc to call upon from the overseas ranks.
The problem, though, is there aren't too many options in the auction pool. There is Ishant Sharma, who is way too predictable in T20 cricket. There is Irfan Pathan, who is injury prone and a bit too hit and miss, even if he can also contribute with the bat. There is Aniket Choudhary, who did well in a warm-up game against Bangladesh. Nathu Singh has raw pace, while Navdeep Saini was not too bad against the Aussies. RCB need one more Indian fast bowler, to be on the safe side.
