IPL 2020: 3 Players RCB can target on Mike Hesson’s advice in the Auction

The IPL Auction 2020 is just a few weeks away and all the respective team managements would have started their planning process for the same. The teams had released their respective retention lists ahead of the auction. While the 2016 IPL Winners, Sunrisers Hyderabad had released the least players (5), the runners-up of the 2016 season, Royal Challengers Bangalore grabbed the headlines by releasing 12 players.

The Bangalore-based franchise has never won an IPL trophy despite having a strong squad. Players like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Daniel Vettori, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid have been a part of this franchise yet it has no trophies in its cabinet.

The owners has thus changed the coaching staff of the team as they recruited the former Kings XI Punjab coach, Mike Hesson for IPL 2020. Every year, the coaches play a huge part in the team’s auction strategy. The same can be expected from Hesson this year.

Here are the 3 players RCB can target on Mike Hesson’s advice in the IPL 2020 Auction:-

James Neesham

The Kiwi all-rounder, James Neesham had gained the cricket universe’s attention with his all-round brilliance in the 2019 World Cup. He stood third in New Zealand’s highest run-scorers and highest wicket-takers’ list. Neesham’s contributions had played a vital role in the team’s success at the mega-event.

Thus, since Hesson has coached New Zealand in the past, he would know about the special talent possessed by the 29-year-old player. He has played for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL hence; he has a clear idea about the Indian conditions. Given that RCB have a plethora of empty spots in their overseas department, they may hunt for Neesham in the auction.

Sam Curran

Another talented all-rounder who would be on Mike Hesson’s radar is the Englishman Sam Curran. Kings XI Punjab had acquired him for a huge price in the previous auction and the fact that Hesson was a part of the franchise’s coaching staff then, explains why RCB will go after him.

The former New Zealand coach seems to be a big fan of Sam which is why he had invested 7.2 Crores for his services. The 21-year-old all-rounder had taken a hat-trick in his debut season while he had also scored a fifty with the bat. Talking about his overall numbers in T20 cricket, Curran has scored 838 runs in 69 T20 matches.

His left-arm pace has helped him scalp 63 wickets which even includes a four-wicket haul. Royal Challengers Bangalore lacks a quality left-arm seam bowler in their side hence, they could sign Curran in the auction.

Glenn Phillips

While Parthiv Patel has been excellent for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Gujarat-born wicket-keeper batsman has never played a big innings for the Virat Kohli-led side. He has provided good starts at the top but the team needs a player who can shoulder the responsibility of the RCB batting department in case Virat and AB de Villiers do not fire.

In this situation, Glenn Phillips can be the ideal option for the Royal Challengers because he had lit up the 2019 Caribbean Premier League with his explosive batting. Phillips had made his T20I debut for New Zealand when Mike Hesson was the team’s coach. This indicates that Hesson has in-depth knowledge about his capabilities and hence, he would love to have him in his squad for IPL 2020.

For the record, the 22-year-old batsman has smashed two hundreds and 14 half-centuries in his T20 career.