New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished fourth in the Indian Premier League (IPL), are hoping to grow the Indian core group of players, especially in the middle order, as they have found their batting was over-reliant on overseas players.
Speaking to the media, RCB’s Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson, said that they will first confirm the facts about the scale of the auction and then strategize.
“The core group of players is good. What we do need is a little bit of tweaking, there’s no doubt about that. We talk about the middle order. (It) can’t always be fixed either by just overseas players and we have to look how we might have to do that rather than unnecessarily strengthen one part of the line-up and leave the other exposed,” said Hesson, hinting that they will look to bring in Indian talent.
“That is why we are trying to grow the Indian core group of players,” he said.
The New Zealander added that the development of Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal is a part of the project.
RCB has already held the initial discussion regarding the team’s development and they are first hoping to get clear information on the auction and when it will take place.
“That [change in the squad] is certainly going to happen in the next week. We have already had initials discussions. We will let the dust settled a bit, we will get a few ideas firstly, and then we need to find the facts whether it is a small auction or a big auction but the core group of players is good,” the New Zealander said.
