Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) raised many eyebrows as the Virat Kohli-led side decided to release 10 players as a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) retention process. RCB’s decision to retain 10 players has become one of the biggest talking points in world cricket, especially after the team reached the playoffs in IPL 2020 played in UAE. Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir expressed his disappointment over RCB’s latest move and said making plenty of changes every season has been the biggest problem for the Kohli-led team.
Speaking on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected, Gambhir said releasing 10 players ahead of IPL 2021 mini auction will only lead to insecurity even among the players who have been retained.
“The biggest problem with RCB is the plethora of changes they make every year, it will only bring insecurity to even the players who are a part of the squad. It’s not just about releasing 10 players, even the retained ones would be thinking that if they have one more bad season, they will be ousted too. This is a problem for coaches and mentors – just to save their positions, they cannot blame the players,” Gambhir said.
Among the players who have been released by RCB, Chris Morris’ name comes as a big surprise as he was one of the better bowlers for the franchise in IPL 2020. RCB have always lacked in the bowling department and Gambhir expressed his shock at the franchise’ss move to release the South African pacer.
“Chris Morris had one bad season, you had shown so much of trust on him, and if you see, he did not have that bad a season. No doubt, he was unfit in the beginning of the season, but when he played, he bowled really well. And they could have also stuck with Umesh Yadav for one more season given the dearth of pacers who are available,” he added.
Players released by RCB: Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Isuru Udana, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann, Parthiv Patel
