Mike Hesson
Mike Hesson. Credit: Getty Images

After a mass clear out in which they retained only two overseas players and the core Indian players, Royal Challengers Bangalore went into the auction with the maximum number of slots available: 12 domestic and six foreign players. The likes of Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee faced the axe.

The Royal Challengers had a disastrous outing last edition as they finished at the bottom of the points table with just 5 wins from 14 games. The Bangalore-based outfit is yet to win the IPL despite making it to the final thrice. Talking about the auction, they roped in Australia’s ODI and T20I skipper Aaron Finch to bolster their top-order which looked shaky last season. Joshua Philippe and Shahbaz Ahmed are the two other new batting options.

Royal Challengers’ top buy was allrounder Chris Morris for whom they went all out and spent a staggering amount of INR 10 crore. The three-time finalists also signed up South Africa’s Dale Steyn, Sri Lanka’s Isuru Udana, Australia’s Kane Richardson and domestic cricketer Pavan Deshpande.

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Credits: Twitter)

Isuru Udana in demand:

Days after the auction ended, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of Cricket Mike Hesson has revealed that the franchise were ready to go the distance for the signature of Isuru Udana. Before the start of the auction, the franchise had prepared a strategy in what order they will buy players along with the amount they were going to splash on a particular player.

Read More  RCB vs KKR Weather Report Live Today And Pitch Report Of Chinnaswamy Stadium– IPL 2024, Match 10

The Royal Challengers recently released a video in which they made the revelation. In the video, Mike Hesson could be seen talking about Isuru Udana. The former New Zealand coach stated that the Sri Lanka allrounder could bowl with different variations and can provide his services with the bat as well. He further admitted that it was not easy to sign Udana since other franchises were interested in him too.

Later on, Hesson was seen involved in a mock auction and during that he spent a staggering amount of INR 9 crore for the Sri Lanka star. Fortunately for the Royal Challengers, they managed to sign Udana for just 50 lakhs in the main auction.

Here is the clip released by the Royal Challengers: 

An avid cricket lover, I just love this game more than anything. Writing about cricket keeps me closer to the game.