Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired Will Jacks at a sum of INR 3.20 crore and Reece Topley at a total sum of INR 1.90 crore who are the top buys among the seven players bought by the team at the IPL Auction 2023.
In its endeavour to build a bold brigade for the excellence in the upcoming IPL season, RCB also added steel and resolve to the squad with the additions of some unheard talents, Avinash Singh is one such name which caught most eyeballs at the auction in Kochi on Friday. RCB identified Avinash Singh through the RCB “Hinterland” scouting system, which follows a very objective process backed by our artificial intelligence partner to validate the talent.
One of the raw skills that the scouting process looks at in the talent is High Speed. The parameter is set for pacers, bowling above 145 Kmph and Avinash ticked the box for the team.
The next step includes inviting bowlers who have cleared the set parameters to RCB camps held year-round. In our most recent camp held in Mumbai, Avinash was put through the paces which was overseen by the RCB head coach, pace bowling coach & head of scouting. The process included pressure testing in match scenarios, reaction to setbacks, control over execution and field set, additional speed validity using speed gun.
In addition to the above-mentioned process, Avinash was also made to go through a thorough physical assessment by our S&C department led by Shankar Basu. After which it was proposed to take an informed punt on a rare talent like Avinash Singh.
Avinash Singh is 24 years old from Jammu & Kashmir. And a blessed talent without any cricket pedigree. He was a former weightlifter (for two years). Until about 6 months back, he was a full-time tennis ball cricketer & is currently part of a cricket academy/club in Jammu, which includes a few prominent state & IPL cricketers.
Speaking about the IPL Auction 2023, Prathmesh Mishra, Chairman, RCB said, “We are thrilled to have got the squad which looks nothing but the best for this IPL season. It is an outcome of all the hard work that our team puts the year round to identify talents and role for individual players in the team and to match all combinations to play the best in auction dynamics. RCB has always believed in identifying young and unique talents and giving them a platform for grooming into the best versions of themselves. RCB is a proud franchise of producing young talents that’s gone far to representing the country. Some of the names are Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Harshal Patel, Kona S Bharat, Shahbaaz Ahmed, who are proud representative of RCB on national level. RCB will continue to work towards the development of cricket and bring this sport to fans in all glory. To begin with, we look forward to a great season in 2023.”
Speaking about the strategy at the IPL Auction 2023, Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket Operations, RCB said, “We are very happy with the way our squad is shaped with the new inclusions around the retained talents. This auction was slightly different in dynamics with the limited purse that we had, we certainly had to challenge ourselves and review around our retained squad. We were comfortable to retain bulk of our squad to back talents and maintain continuity in work patterns.
We intended to get into auction for some flexibility and covers that we might need around the existing talents. We did consider Impact players’ rule but as part of scouting strategy at RCB we have enough flexibility in the team, so we didn’t have to change our approach in any way because of this new rule in the tournament. It is just the matter of filling gaps with specialists and having a balanced squad, which can add an impact into the squad, and we are thrilled to have achieved that after the end of IPL Auction 2023. We look forward to having a great season with the best talents in cricket.”