5 Times RCB overspent on their players in IPL Auction history

Year after year, there is a lot of spotlight on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). There is a lot of promise but they flatter to deceive. Be it in the IPL or at the auctions, they have underperformed more often than not. They are one of the most exciting franchises but they have nothing to show in their trophy cabinet.

RCB are also known to spend big in the auctions. In most of the auctions in the past, RCB have been among the top buyers and tend to record some of the most expensive buys as well. Be it Kevin Pietersen in 2009 or Yuvraj Singh in 2014 or Shane Watson in 2016 or even the INR 6.2 crore trade for Marcus Stoinis last season, RCB have broken the bank and gone overboard to get these players.

There are some other players as well who have gone for plenty and RCB have overspent on them and they disappointed big time.

Here we bring you five players over whom RCB overspent in the auction

Tymal Mills (2017) – INR 12 crore

A lot of people seem to have forgotten about Tymal Mills. A few years back, the England left-arm fast bowler was one of the big picks among bowlers in most T20 leagues across the world. Mills had the ability to bowl quick and rattle the batsmen with pace. However, he even had a deceptive slower one and could bring down his pace significantly.

Thus, he was rated pretty highly. The Yorkshire-born pacer was a part of the T20 Blast, PSL and BBL as well. Moreover, he got an opportunity in the England T20I side and he did well in India just ahead of the auctions in 2017. He picked up three wickets and impressed with his variations.

RCB went all out for Mills and paid a whopping sum of INR 12 crore. However, he was well under-par in the limited number of games he played. Mills struggled slightly with his fitness but was also under-par with the ball. He picked up five wickets from as many games and went at an economy of 8.58. Irrespective of how he performed, INR 12 crore was way too much and RCB clearly overspent.

Yuvraj Singh (2014) – INR 14 crore

For two successive years, Yuvraj Singh was on the top of the auction charts. In 2015, he was bought for a staggering sum of INR 16 crore which is still the highest-ever bid in the history of the IPL auctions. A year before that, it was the then highest – INR 14 crore.

That INR 14 crore was spent by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). They wanted Yuvraj at all costs in that season. The Punjab southpaw has been one of India’s biggest match-winners in white-ball cricket but hasn’t had the best of times in the IPL. He didn’t have a great record back then either. Despite that, RCB went hell for leather for Yuvraj.

In fact, 2014 was Yuvraj’s best season with the bat. He scored 376 runs (the most for him in an IPL season) at an average of 34.18 and a strike-rate of 135.25. However, the price which he was bought for was a bit too much. It ate into RCB’s purse big time and affected most of their other buys as it was a mega auction.

Dinesh Karthik (2015) – INR 10.5 crore

Just a year after splurging INR 14 crore on Yuvraj Singh, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) went big and spent a stunning INR 10.5 crore on Dinesh Karthik. In fact, in this auction, they had gone till the very end for Yuvraj again before bailing out at the last minute and letting Delhi win the INR 16 crore bid. However, they did get Karthik for a huge amount.

The Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper had performed decently over the last couple of seasons but INR 10.5 crore did seem too much. It did prove to be in the end as well. Karthik had an underwhelming season as he could amass only 141 runs in the season. His strike-rate of 120.51 was under-par as well.

Thus, RCB overspent on Karthik as they desperately needed an Indian batsman in the middle-order. But it backfired and it wasn’t worth at all.

Chris Woakes (2018) – INR 7.4 crore

Players who can contribute and make an impact in all three departments have always been rated highly. They invariably get a big price in the IPL auction as well. Moreover, the dearth of Indian seam-bowling all-rounders increases the value of overseas players of the same category (fast bowling all-rounders). Chris Woakes was one of them.

He had a very good time with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2017. The England bowling all-rounder picked up 17 wickets and was pretty effective. Thus, RCB went after him in the 2018 auctions and increased his price more than 1.75 times than what it was in 2017. KKR had bought Woakes for INR 4.2 crore but RCB paid INR 7.4 crore to avail his services.

However, the England pacer was overpriced and RCB had gone overboard as well. Woakes didn’t have the best of seasons as he leaked runs at an economy of 10.36 and didn’t have any impact with the bat. Thus, that also played a part in him going unsold in the 2019 season.

Saurabh Tiwary (2011) – $1,600,000

This may not have been a name you were expecting in this list. But Saurabh Tiwary was one of the top buys for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) back in 2011. In fact, he was their most expensive buy in the IPL auction in 2011, even costlier than AB de Villiers who was bought for $1,100,000.

Tiwary was one of the shining lights in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) team of 2010 which reached the final. He scored 419 runs in the season and was one of the key members of the side. Hence, it was expected that he might get big bucks. However, RCB went berserk after him and didn’t let him go. The left-handed batsman was bought for $1,600,000 – 16 times his base price.

It wasn’t worth anything as Tiwary flattered to deceive and was one of the biggest disappointments. He stayed at RCB for three seasons and played 40 games between 2011 and 2013. But he could score only 487 runs at an average of 24.35 and the runs came at a lowly strike-rate of 104.96. It was one of the worst buys for RCB.