Former India paceman RP Singh feels that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will retain only Virat Kohli ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. RP Singh also believes that RCB will drop all other players in the squad.
The IPL governing body recently announced the retention and RTM rules for the next mega auction. Franchisees will now start working on their plans and strategies for the auction.
The IPL has announced that franchises can retain a total of six players, with a maximum direct retention of five players allowed. The other player must be any Indian player. A franchise can also retain a maximum of two Indian players.
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RP Singh feels RCB will retain Virat Kohli and release everyone else
Speaking at Colors Cineplex, RP Singh predicted catches from Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Singh believes that RCB will just keep Virat Kohli and release everyone else. He also mentioned that the franchise could use RTM to retain other players like Rajat Patidar and Mohammed Siraj.
“I think they have no problem. They will just keep Virat Kohli, release others and use RTM. If we see the value taking Rajat Patidar as an example, will we buy him for more or less 11 crores. In the auction?” RP Singh argued.
“I feel you will get Rajat Patidar for less. So you will buy him back in the auction. Even if he is close to Rs 11 crore, you have RTM there that you can use,” he said.
The former India fast bowler feels that the team should go with a positive mindset and claimed that Kohli is the most important player in the team. He feels that Virat Kohli is the only person in this team who deserves a huge amount.
“So they have to go with a new mindset. They need Virat, he has contributed a lot to the franchise and Virat is the most important player. So they have to build a team around him or think with a new mindset. Nobody else in this team except Virat Kohli is 18 and I don’t see it being worth 14 crore either,” said RP Singh.
Will RCB retain Mohammad Siraj?
As for Mohammed Siraj, Singh feels that the Indian fast bowler will not reach 14 million and therefore should be released from the team and picked through RTM instead.
“(Muhammad) Siraj, performance-wise, you will have to re-judge whether he will get it near 11 crores. I don’t think Siraj will get near 14 crores. They will always have options so if he gets there. , you can use RTM you can,” said Singh.
The first player retained in the list will get INR 18 crore, the second player will get INR 14 crore and the third player will get INR 11 crore. The fourth and fifth catches will fetch INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore respectively. Meanwhile, the unsuccessful player will receive INR 4 crore.
RCB uncapped players
RP Singh also shared his thoughts on the players who did not materialize in RCB. He feels that Anuj Rawat or Rajan Kumar will not fetch INR 4 crore in the auctions and they should also be released.
“If you talk about open-minded players, you’ve got Anuj Rawat and there’s a left-arm pacer in Rajan Kumar, a good fast bowler who doesn’t play, but they won’t all reach four million,” he said.
Currently, RCB has great overseas players like Glenn Maxwell, captain Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green and Will Jacks. The team staged a dramatic comeback in the second half of the tournament to end the IPL 2024 season in fourth place.
RCB is one of the four IPL teams that have never won an IPL title. They will go into IPL 2025 with an eye on their first IPL trophy.
