Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore look for stability as they release only handful of players

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction is set to take place next month in Kochi.

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SportsTak

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction is set to take place next month in Kochi. After a long gap of three years, the home and away format will be making its comeback. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had set the deadline of November 15 for franchises to submit their list of retained and released players. Also, the purse of every franchise has been increased by Rs 5 crore. Here’s a look at one of the most followed IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) updated squad.
  

Released players: Jason Behrendorff, Sherfane Rutherford, Aneeshwar Gautam, Chama Milind, Luvnith Sisodia
 

Retained players: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabhudesai, Harshal Patel, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Karn Sharma 

 

Purse remaining: Rs 8.75 crore

 

RCB’s run in IPL 2022
After Virat Kohli announced that he will step down from captaincy after IPL 2021, there was a big question mark over RCB’s new leader as AB de Villiers had called it quits as well. In the mega IPL auction, former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was picked for Rs 5.5 crore and made captain of the side. Under Du Plessis, RCB had a mixed bag of a run in league stage but they still won eight out of 14 of their games to qualify for the qualifiers. Harshal Patel turned out to be the standout bowler with 32 wickets in the season which also earned him the national call-up. 
 

They faced KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the eliminator and despite Rajat Patidar’s maiden IPL century, they could not advance to the second qualifier. RCB’s previous best finish was in 2016 when they reached the final only to lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They have struggled in big games and are one of the few teams who are yet to win the coveted trophy. 

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