IPL 2018 | Who should Royal Challengers Bangalore buy at the mega-auction

Funds Remaining - 49 crores

With the three players that RCB have retained, they have made sure that they don’t have to worry about of the middle order anymore with the 3, 4, and 5 places sorted out. Even though the funds remaining column shows that they have 49 crores left, ten, fringe, out of the 22 players remaining will/should not cost the Bangalore franchise anything more than a hugely conservative 7 crores, which means that they have 42 crores left for 12 players. 

Keeping this in mind, let's talk about RTM first. RCB have put themselves in the best possible position thanks to the Sarfaraz retention because now they don’t have to worry about an uncapped player in the RTM – a problem for every other franchise. Logic dictates that they have to use their RTM on KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal. However, the question that arises is that how can they bear for the duo because spending 20 crores for them would have a huge impact on the rest of the auction. Having said that, if RCB can get both players for 15 crores, considering the value of first choice Indian national team players, it would be an absolute steal and a core like that would last them at least till the next mega-auction. However, if they just get the option to get one of the players, its Chahal who should get the nod due to the unique skill set he possesses. 

If RCB can get one of the two, if not both, they can just fill the rest of the batting slots with players who won’t fetch more than 2-3 crores. Since they will already have at least four explosive batsmen, RCB would need a player to hold down the fort should things go south in a match. Hiring a foreign player for this would be a terrible idea considering they have to worry about the bowling contingent as well. But that is not the only reason for the statement. Indian batsmen are well acquainted with the pitches on offer in the country and experienced guys like Manoj Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, and Manan Vohra could offer the necessary stability to the side. Odisha's Govinda Poddar, who scored a blistering 95 in RCB trail match, and K Gautham could be other options that the RCB side could look to build a team of some repute. 

The only time that RCB realistically got close to a title was, back in 2016, when two of their bowlers, Chahal and Shane Watson, were able to claim over 20 wickets. With Mitchell Starc pulling out last season, the Tymal Mills experiment proved to be a disaster. With a number of world-class bowlers to pick from, RCB will have to break the bank for one. That one should ideally be Andrew Tye. The Aussie is arguably one of the best death over bowlers at the moment and has proved his worth in both the IPL and the BBL. Even though there is a high probability of CSK retaining his services for this edition, RCB should go all in for the talented pacer if they want a genuine threat in their attack. 

In all honesty, this is the category that will decide whether or not they are a real threat this year. And there are some absolute monster all-rounders out there. However, Ben Stokes, Marcus Stoinis, and Colin Munro might just be out of the equation as far as price in concerned, particularly if they are able to retain both Rahul and Chahal. Now the best two that they have available are Nathan Coulter-Nile and Chris Woakes. Out of the duo, it's the former who has to be the first choice due to the fact that English players might leave at the fag end of the tournament. The Aussie can contribute immensely with the bat and bowl and its hard to say what he does better.