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Jacob Duffy in action. (FILE photo)
Former Indian off-spinner R Ashwin praised Royal Challengers Bengaluru for bagging in Jacob Duffy for just the base price (2 Crores). Duffy has been in red-hot form for New Zealand in the last few months. The Kiwi is ranked 2nd in the T20I bowling rankings, and in the Test match against West Indies, which got over on Monday, he picked up nine wickets.
“What a cricketer Jacob Duffy is turning out to be. 2025 has been his coming-of-age year. 23 wickets at 15.43, 40.3 Strike rate, and MOS in the tests against Windies. He’s also the current #1-ranked T20I bowler, with a sensational 2025 in T20s with 57 wickets at 18.9, 7.89 economy, and an elite 53.1% dot ball rate. At 31, he’s operating at peak efficiency. Absolute steal by RCB to pick him up at a base price of 2C. Sensational coup,” wrote Ashwin on his X(Formerly known as Twitter account).
What did RCB do in the auction
Indian allrounder Venkatesh Iyer was purchased by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 7 crore at the IPL mini auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as their first signing. The reigning champions were involved in a bidding war with the Kolkata Knight Riders, but eventually got the player. He has played for KKR in the past and has made 1468 runs in 62 matches.
RCB chose to retain 17 players and went into the mini-auction with a purse of Rs 16.40 crore. The funds were freed up after they released England all-rounder Liam Livingstone and South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, along with Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Agarwal, Mohit Rathee and Sachin Baby. RCB’s purse at the start of the day was the fourth lowest, only ahead of the Mumbai Indians (Rs 2.75 crore), Punjab Kings (Rs 11.50 crore) and the Rajasthan Royals (Rs 16.05 crore).
Having ended what seemed like a never-ending wait for a title last season, RCB now face a challenge that is arguably more difficult than winning the IPL itself – defending it. They have chosen to not tinker too much with a combination that literally ended up being declared the best in the league last year but where they would be worried would be the depth, or lack of it, in their fast bowling department. Josh Hazlewood is injured and his workload management is a worry while Yash Dayal has played no professional cricket since last season’s IPL itself.
RCB squad: Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Satwik Deswal, Jordan Cox, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan
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