RCB Live Blog: IPL 2023 Auction

8:30 PM - It's stumps at Kochi as we call it a day from the mini-auction for the latest edition of the IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore walked in with a purse of INR 8.75 crore and waited quite a bit to start shopping around. However, they soon hunkered down to business and brought in some heavy names with Reece Topley and Will Jacks leading the charge while amongst the talented Indian youngsters they managed to land the likes of Sonu Yadav, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Manoj Bhandage and Himanshu Sharma.

7:37 PM - Another youngster in the hut as RCB racks up all-rounder Sonu Yadav for his base price of INR 20 lakh to fill up the final slot for the day. The youngster dished out a couple of fine displays in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he registered impressive figures of 2 for 8 against Haryana and 2 for 55 against Kerala.

7:32 PM - Royal Challengers Bangalore has made their intentions clear as they look forward to heavily investing in the youth, adding another impressive name in Avinash Singh at a price of INR 60 lakh, a fast bowler who can conjure some serious pace.

7:18 PM - Keeping the future in mind, the Royal Challengers Bangalore added another youngster in Rajan Kumar who had a fine run in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy for Uttarakhand. With figures of 3 for 27 against Odisha in the aforementioned tournament, Kumar showcased his class and as a reward, RCB purchased him for INR 70 lakh after a fierce battle with KKR.

7:05 PM - Here comes a taste of home for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as their latest buy is an exciting all-rounder from the very heart of Karnataka, Manoj Bhandage. An all-rounder touted as one for the future, Manoj was bought at his base price of INR 20 lakh.

It's 6 PM sharp on your ticker and we head to a prolonged break of 45 minutes. After starting the auction on a reticent note, RCB has returned with a couple of bangers as they bought the likes of Reece Topley to kickstart proceedings and followed it with young spinner Himanshu Sharma while adding another grandstand flourish in Will Jacks. We will be back with the accelerated auction after this break. You cannot simply go anywhere now for the real drama begins now. Oh, we also have a remaining purse of INR 3.45 crore. Exciting ain't it?

#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2023 #IPL2023Auction pic.twitter.com/90P0Hbp40f

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) December 23, 2022

5:55 PM - Hailing from Surrey and touted as one of the star acts in the making, English batter, Will Jacks boasts of 2532 T20 runs, scored at a whirlwind strike rate of 154.39, and also 23 wickets at an economy rate of 7.19. With such impressive numbers adorning the youngster, RCB did him the honours by buying him for INR 3.2 crore after an oscillating battle with the Rajasthan Royals.

5:26 PM - After a brief lull, RCB has started targeting the unheralded names to forge the forces of the future. In a bid for posterity, RCB roped in a 24-year-old Himanshu Sharma for his base price of 20 lahks as the youngster managed to weave some serious magic in the domestic circuit, riveting a few eyeballs, heading into the auction.

5:15 PM - It's been a while since we have caught up and as things stand, RCB still has the prized buy of English fast bowler, Reece Topley. RCB's head coach, Sanjay Bangar has already expressed his vote of confidence for Topley stating, "Tall left-arm pacer, hits the ball high on the bat, can bowl both at the start and the death." Dear 12th Man Army, who do you think is next on the cards for the Challengers?

It's 4:30 PM on the clock and as we head to another break, here's a brief introduction of RCB's first buy in the IPL 2023 auction. Towering at 6'7, Reece Topley holds a special flair of emanating some sharp swing and he is able to move the ball either way at some searing pace. With 168 wickets from 131 T20s and an economy rate of 8.22, Topley will be an absolute steal that would bolster the already bedecked pace mafia of RCB.

4:20 PM - It's time to bring home the big man from England. Dear 12th Man Army, here's our opening buy of the day, Reece Topley.

Joining RCB’s #ClassOf2023:

Name: Reece Topley
Price: 190L

Welcome to the RCB family! ❤️#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2023 #IPL2023Auction pic.twitter.com/5q878oSYun

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) December 23, 2022

4:18 PM - Our first buy of the day at INR 1.9 crore is the menacing English fast bowler, Reece Topley. Known for his ability to angle the ball away from the batter while also nipping it back in sharply on occasions, the towering express man will add a lot of variety to the RCB pace attack that is already buoyed by the likes of ace Australian quick Josh Hazlewood.

3:45 PM - We come to a conclusion of the all-rounders' first pot and despite interests in Cameron Green, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran, RCB chose to wait for more names to be revealed before going head-on with a splurge.

3:10 PM - Here is our squad making ripples in the war room at Kochi.

Our squad for the pre season game. A game of strategy if you will. 💪#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2023 #IPL2023Auction #BidForBold pic.twitter.com/OuByobZgWH

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) December 23, 2022

3:05 PM - The first break has been announced and as things stand, RCB is still to register their first buy of the day. Initial interest was shown for Harry Brook but after a heated exchange with the Rajasthan Royals, RCB chose to back out. There was also an initial war for Mayank Agarwal but then with the amount rising and keeping the remaining purse in mind, RCB opted to save for later.

1:50 PM - Good afternoon, everyone. We are all set for the latest edition of the IPL auction. Hugh Edmeades will be taking the stage shortly and the gavel will start raining its substantial blows at the hallowed count of 1..2..3..We will bring you all the latest developments pertaining to the Royal Challengers Bangalore from the auction room as the mini-battle begins. Buckle up your seat belts for this is going to be a war of epic proportions.