IPL Auction 2023: Virat Kohli's Childhood Coach Rajkumar Sharma Feels Sikandar Raza Will Be In Demand At Mini-auction

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma believes that the 36-year-old Pakistani-born Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza will be in huge demand at the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 player auction, which will be a mini-auction, is set to be held on December 23 in Kochi. Sikandar Raza has set his base price at INR 50 lakh for the mini-auction.

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Raza, who will be one of the most experienced players to go under the auction hammer, has delivered highly impactful performances both with bat and ball in recent times. In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, he smashed 219 runs in eight games at a strike rate of almost 148, and with the ball, he bagged 10 wickets.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach said that Raza is a very good package and will be in heavy demand at the mini-auction.

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“Sikandar Raza is a great prospect. Not just RCB, but the other teams would also want to go after him. He has a lot of variations up his sleeve when it comes to his bowling. He has won Zimbabwe a lot of matches single-handedly and is a very good package. I am sure all the franchises have reserved a large amount for him,” Raza said in a conversation with India News.

They need a T20 specialist bowler in their team – Rajkumar Sharma on RCB

Rajkumar Sharma further talked about the possible auction strategy of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He said that RCB need to acquire a T20 specialist bowler, who can bowl death overs. He elaborated:

“RCB do not have a lot of funds. They will target one or two base players who they can get at their base price. Bowling has always been a big concern for them. They need a T20 specialist bowler in their team. They would want to use a large chunk of their money for a star bowler who can bowl at the death.”

“Adil Rashid is a very underrated bowler. He has performed admirably in white-ball cricket. I haven’t seen him go for a lot of runs. A lot of teams will be tempted to go after him. However, I don’t think RCB will bid for him, given that they already have Wanindu Hasaranga.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) released only 5 players ahead of the mini-auction and have the second-lowest purse of INR 8.75 crore. They have 18 players in the squad, including 6 overseas, and 7 slots are open, of which 2 are for overseas players.

Also Read: IPL Auction 2023: “Would Be Great If He Got Picked Up At The IPL, It Would Be Awesome” – Brendon McCullum On Rehan Ahmed

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