Royal Challengers Bangalore Director of Cricket Mo Bobat has said that they will be looking for bowling options to support Mohammed Siraj in the upcoming IPL 2024 mini-auction, set to be held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday, December 19.

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RCB failed to qualify for the playoffs last season, finishing sixth in the IPL 2023 points table, winning seven and losing seven matches. They released 11 players ahead of the retention deadline, letting go of Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh, Siddharth Kaul and Kedar Jadhav.

Speaking ahead of the auction, Bobat said RCB will be focused on finding bowling options to support Siraj next season. Siraj will be leading the line for RCB with the ball next year, having claimed 19 wickets in 14 matches last season.

“Mohammad Siraj is a core part of what we do so supporting Siraj with some more bowling options including overseas bowling options is going to be a real priority for us moving forward. Then we have got a core of local spinners, which I think is quite strong. Some of them got some opportunities over the last year or two and they might play more leading roles moving forward,” said Bobat.

He went on to say that they are focused on getting players with pace and balance instead of looking at things like lateral movement. RCB released five pacer bowlers ahead of the auction and will be looking to find appropriate replacements.

“Naturally cricket tends to get attracted to and gravitate towards things like the control and the lateral movement of fast bowlers but what we should be doing is identifying players that have the pace and the balance. You can teach someone to develop craft and lateral movement but it is not that easy to teach pace or manufacture balance because you are talking about their release height and their physicality,” Bobat added.

RCB will be looking to have a successful day at the mini-auction in Dubai as they gun for their maiden IPL title next season.