The Bangalore franchise bought six players in the recent Indian T20 League mini-auction on Friday. Sonu Yadav (INR 20 lakh), Avinash Singh (INR 60 lakh), Rajan Kumar (INR 70 lakh), Manoj Bhandage (INR 20 lakh), Will Jacks (INR 3.2 crore), Himanshu Sharma (INR 20 lakh), Reece Topley (INR 1.9 crore) were the players that Bangalore got into their squad.
Bangalore had a purse of INR 8.75 crore in the auction and went after some big names including the likes of Sam Curran, Cameron Green, Ben Stokes and Harry Brook but couldn’t buy them due to their money constraints.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra analysed Bangalore’s mindset in the auction and said that they were searching for a middle-order batter.
“They went searching for a middle-order batter and because of that, they went after Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Sam Curran, Cameron Green, Ben Stokes and Manish Pandey. They couldn’t take any of them because they had only 8.75 crores. You won’t even get their shadows with that much money,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
The 45-year-old further highlighted why Bangalore had less money as they had already bought some key players in the previous auction and the retained players’ squad was already good to begin with.
“They are extremely expensive players, so how will you buy them? They had less money because the team is looking good. There was no need or scope for many changes. This team has openers in the form of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Finn Allen and Anuj Rawat,” he added.
“They have two middle-order batters in the form of Rajat Patidar and Suyash Prabhudessai and wicketkeepers in the form of Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat. They have kept quite a few all-rounders – Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage and Sonu Yadav,” noted Chopra.
Glenn Maxwell is mercurial: Aakash Chopra
However, the former India cricketer opined that despite having several big names in their squad, Bangalore will miss a middle-order batter in the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League. Chopra labelled Glenn Maxwell a mercurial player who does not fit well in the middle-order batting position.
“If we talk about the XI – former captain Virat Kohli with Faf du Plessis, then Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik. When I say this, every time I feel that Maxwell is mercurial, and then Shahbaz Ahmed, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik – not the right kind of middle order,” he concluded.
