Legendary India spinner Anil Kumble has made a bold prediction ahead of the next IPL season, focusing on Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He suggested that their recent recruit, Venkatesh Iyer, could find it tough to make it into the playing XI in the initial matches. With RCB’s squad stacked with established all-rounders and match-winners, they added another proven IPL star in Venky Iyer to strengthen their side. The Madhya Pradesh star had caught RCB’s attention in the previous auction, leading to a fierce bidding battle with KKR that pushed his price past INR 20 crore. This year, however, RCB secured him for a much lower INR 7 crore.
Kumble offered his take on RCB’s strategy ahead of the next IPL season. He suggested that Iyer might not feature in the starting XI initially to maintain team balance, while also explaining RCB’s approach to securing Iyer without outbidding rivals in the auction.
"Venkatesh Iyer will not be in the playing eleven at the start. You do not want to create doubt in a winning team. That is probably why they did not go after a Ravi Bishnoi, so that Suyash Sharma does not feel threatened by a senior India spinner," JioStar expert Kumble said.
"RCB thought they might get outbid, but they did not, so they are happy to have Venkatesh Iyer."
The 2024 IPL winning-star had an underwhelming last season with KKR, where he scored just 142 runs in seven innings at an average above 20, a strike rate of almost 140, and one fifty, which led the franchise to take the big decision of releasing him.
“RCB done well to back their players”
{{/usCountry}}The 2024 IPL winning-star had an underwhelming last season with KKR, where he scored just 142 runs in seven innings at an average above 20, a strike rate of almost 140, and one fifty, which led the franchise to take the big decision of releasing him.
“RCB done well to back their players”
{{/usCountry}}Kumble praised RCB for maintaining stability in their squad while adding strategic backups. He highlighted key replacements, including Jacob Duffy for Josh Hazlewood, Jordan Cox for Phil Salt, and Mangesh Yadav as a promising left-arm seamer to support Yash Dayal, ensuring balance and depth in the team.
"They (RCB) have done well to keep the core the same, back their players, and just have a few backups in case something goes wrong. Jacob Duffy will be a backup for Josh Hazlewood, and Jordan Cox is a like-for-like replacement for Phil Salt. Mangesh Yadav comes in as a backup for Yash Dayal. He is a left-arm seamer with a lot of potential, though he has not played much cricket," said Kumble.