Royal Challengers Bengaluru may be the defending champions, but the franchise still has a few gaps to address ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. RCB head into the auction with a purse of just over ₹16 crore, having trimmed their title-winning squad to allow for smart, targeted additions rather than major changes.
Before the RCB management makes its picks from the auction pool, former RCB captain and JioStar expert, Anil Kumble, spoke exclusively to CNN-News18, where he shared his thoughts on the team’s strategy and areas of focus.
Here’re the edited excerpts:
Which bowler will RCB target as a back-up for Josh Hazlewood?
They’ll certainly have to look for an overseas fast bowler. I’m a bit surprised that they let go of Lungi Ngidi because he was
there at Rs 1 crore, his base price. However, there’s an option now. Anrich Nortje, Matt Henry, Gerald Coetzee… I think out of those 3, in my view, Nortje may go slightly higher or maybe a Matt Henry. They will need a bit of experience and Nortje and Matt Henry bring you that.
Will RCB look for a spinner to share responsibilities with Suyash Sharma?
Yeah, ideally. Now that Bishnoi is in the auction, ideally, RCB could have gone for him. I’m not sure whether 16 crores is enough to have him because there’ll be other teams who want to get Ravi Bishnoi if he doesn’t come.
Then there’s Rahul Chahar as an option, but I doubt even RCB could get him. So, maybe a [Kumar] Karthikeya could be an option. He bowls left-arm spin, he’s much quicker, he has the experience, he’s a good first-class bowler too, and he also bowls wrist spin.
So, I think RCB could potentially look at Kumar Karthikeya in the mini-auction.
Do you expect RCB to renew interest in Venkatesh Iyer, given that they went big for him in the mega-auction last year?
I think so. I think Venkatesh here certainly brings in that flexibility. You very rarely get an experienced Indian international IPL player. A left-hander can bat from no. 1 to no. 5. RCB will certainly go for it, but it depends on the price because they only have 16 crores.
I think their first approach would be to fortify their fast bowling unit. An Indian fast bowler backup is also required, someone for Josh Hazelwood and maybe potentially a spinner. Someone can pack up Krunal and Suyash.
So, that will be their priority. But if Venkatesh goes for a lesser amount, perhaps yes, because that’s an option.
(Catch all the action from the TATA IPL 2026 mini-auction, December 16, 2:30 PM onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network)
