IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Players Released By Punjab Kings That Royal Challengers Bangalore Can Target

Under Faf du Plessis’ new direction, Royal Challengers Bangalore is a force to reckon with in the Indian Premier League. The RCB displayed outstanding cricket and appeared poised to win the competition. However, they were eliminated from the competition after failing to defeat Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.

The Bangalore franchise’s prospective campaign featured a lot of appeal. In light of this, the think tank made the decision to keep the majority of its players after the IPL 2023 auction and release only five. The Royal Challengers Bangalore will prefer to fill the vacant places with top-tier players as they attempt to win their first IPL championship in the upcoming season.

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Despite having a quality team, the Punjab Kings under Mayank’s captaincy finished sixth in the IPL 2022. Shikhar Dhawan will now captain the team as he replaces Mayank, who served in that capacity throughout the previous season.

Punjab Kings released Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, and Writtick Chatterjee.

Let’s have a look at the 3 players released by Punjab Kings that the Royal Challengers Bangalore can target.

Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal’s batting suffered as a result of the PBKS captaincy’s responsibilities. The right-handed batter was only able to score 196 runs in IPL 2022, despite hitting more than 400 runs in each of the two seasons prior (424 runs in IPL 2020 and 441 runs in IPL 2021). His strike rate was 122.5 per cent, and his average for runs scored was a dismal 16.33.

Given that Mayank Agarwal is from Karnataka and has extensive experience playing at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home stadium of Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Bangalore-based franchise may target him.

He has amassed a large number of runs while competing at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and given that the 2023 IPL will be played in its traditional home-and-away format, he could be useful to the team.

Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma, a right-arm medium pacer from Punjab, made his first-class debut in 2011 and signed with the Kings XI Punjab, currently known as the Punjab Kings, prior to the 2013 IPL. In the IPL 2014 Auction, the franchise purchased him back.

Experts have given him excellent marks for his ability to swing the ball, and he has been an important member of each organisation he has played for. In 104 IPL games, he has taken 114 victims, averaging 26.33 and a 7.77 economy.

In IPL 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore might sign him as a powerplay bowler considering his ability to swing the ball both ways.

Odean Smith

The Punjab Kings (PBKS), who had signed the power-hitter for INR 6 crores, had high hopes for Odean Smith to perform his magic in the IPL 2022.

The Jamaican cricketer, however, did not perform well for PBKS and had a disappointing season. In six games, he only managed to score 51 runs while also taking six wickets at a worrisome economy rate of 11.86.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore might be interested in the all-rounder as the Chinnaswamy Stadium might be the perfect ground for the monstrous man who can consistently bowl 140+ while hitting sixes all over the ground at will.

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