RCBs Coach Reflects on Auction Strategies and Player Acquisitions

New Delhi, October 29 (Daily Kiran) : The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the defending champions, made a significant effort to bring back Australian all-rounder Sophie Molineux during the WPL 2027 auction. They placed a bid of ₹1.05 crore but ultimately lost to the UP Warriors, who secured her for ₹1.15 crore.

RCB’s head coach, Malolan Rangarajan, discussed the franchise’s bidding approach on auction day. He also explained the decision to acquire injured Australian all-rounder Jess Jonassen for ₹40 lakh as the team finalized its roster for the upcoming season.

Rangarajan acknowledged the team’s efforts to retain Molineux but noted that the auction’s competitive nature forced them to consider other priorities. “When you have ₹1.15 crore and go up to ₹1.05 crore for someone, I think we made every effort to bring her back. We also have to consider that we won the championship last year, so we would have preferred to keep her on our team. I wish Sophie the best as she plays for UP. She is a fantastic cricketer. That’s how the auction works, and we had other players we were looking at,” he stated.

Despite missing out on Molineux, RCB successfully added four players to their squad, including Jonassen, South African all-rounder Chloe Tryon, and Indian batters Tejal Hasbnis and Vrinda Dinesh. The total expenditure for these acquisitions was ₹1.10 crore, enhancing the team’s spin attack and all-round resources while deepening their Indian batting options.

However, Jonassen’s availability remains a crucial concern. The Australian player withdrew from the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) due to injury, but RCB is hopeful she will be fit in time for the WPL.

Rangarajan mentioned that the franchise assessed the risk before acquiring the experienced left-arm spinner. If her recovery takes longer than expected, they have backup plans in place. “She has decided not to play in the WBBL as she recovers. As of now, the information we have is that she will be fit by the end of December and will play some domestic List-A games in Australia before being ready for the WPL. JJ is a very experienced player. We are aware of her current fitness, but we still wanted her. The same goes for Sophie. We knew exactly what we were signing up for,” he explained.

He added, “If needed, we have all our backup plans ready. I want to focus on player JJ and how she enhances our team. A left-arm spinner who can be an option for us in the middle and death overs, and importantly, she can bat anywhere between the fourth and sixth positions. So, I am very happy to have JJ in the team.”

RCB entered the auction with 13 retained players and a remaining budget of ₹1.15 crore. The retained group includes captain Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Nadine de Klerk, Shreyanka Patil, and Lauren Bell, among others.