The Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) Auction took place on December 23 (Friday) and out of the 405 shortlisted players, 80 cricketers were bought by the 10 franchises. Teams like Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants forked out a whopping amount of money to acquire some of the best talents available in the auction pool. Sam Curran became the most expensive player at IPL auctions as Punjab churned out a record sum of Rs 18.50 crore for the England all-rounder.
With limited money, Royal Challengers Bangalore played their cards carefully and made limited additions in order to bolster the squad. Former franchise legend AB de Villiers analysed Bangalore's squad and liked the overall make-up of the team.
"Yeah I like the look of this team that had a good season last year, they came close," the South African great told Jio Cinema.
"There's a good balance, good backup, I just need a couple of guys in form. It's the same old story I think when it comes to that, we need a couple of guys in the top order to fire. There's a lot of class in that line-up. I feel the bowling attack, Josh Hazlewood has been the best find. I think he is a quality class player, very experienced. That's exactly what we needed in the last few years. It's just a matter of getting Maxi in form and then somebody like a Rajat Patidar to make sure, he continues with that kind of form and a few guys chipping around him. Virat we know, batted well in the World Cup and if he is in form, we are gonna go a long way.
"So looking forward to see these boys perform. They've got a lot of confidence from last year and now it's just a matter of building on that and taking it all the way," he added.
After winning eight out of their 14 matches, the Red Army qualified for the playoffs in IPL 2022 but the franchise is still searching for an elusive title.
