IPL 2023 Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Best retained squad

Royal Challengers Bangalore to retain most of the core as we look at the strongest predicted retained squad and players list for RCB for IPL 2023. 

The most celebrated team on Social Media, the Royal Challengers Bangalore had a good 2022 IPL season where they finished third defeating the Lucknow Super Giants in Eliminator. If not for the Jos Buttler apocalypse in Qualifier 2, RCB would have played the Gujarat Titans in the finals.

Nevertheless, the RCB batch of 2022  had a total of 23 players in the squad including 8 overseas players. The upcoming IPL 2023 Auction would give them an opportunity to purchase new potential players, and in the process let go of some of their unused and not-so-good players. 

But, for the solid core that they managed to build, will Royal Challengers Bangalore release any players, or they will try to retain as many players as possible? Well, let’s find out the strongest predicted retained squad and players list for RCB ahead of IPL 2023 Auction. 

Batters & WKs

Batters: Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai & Virat Kohli

Wicket-keepers: Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Finn Allen & Luvnith Sisodia

Talking about the batters, RCB are led by their best batters Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. Both opened for RCB in 2022, and should continue to do so in 2023 as well. Apart from these two, Rajat Patidar shall be a key member whom RCB should retain. Whereas 360° player Suyash Prabhudesai shall be a key backup batter for RCB.

Coming to the wicket-keepers, RCB are once again settled with Dinesh Karthik as their primary wicket-keeper with Anuj Rawat and Luvnith Sisodiya as key backups. In addition, RCB also have the explosive Finn Allen as a backup to Faf du Plessis. Ideally, RCB may not release any of these three. But if they are looking to make budget available, they could look to sell Anuj Rawat, whose cost is INR 3.4 Crores. 

All-rounders

Main All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed & Wanindu Hasaranga

Backup All-rounders: David Willey & Mahipal Lomror

All-rounders is an area where the Royal Challengers Bangalore have a solid trio of Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Wanindu Hasaranga. All three are first-choice all-rounders, and they should continue to be in 2023 as well. In addition, RCB shall retain the pace all-rounder David Willey and spin all-rounder Mahipal Lomror as key backups. 

Since they have a solid core of all-rounders, RCB are likely to release Aneeshwar Gautam and Sherfane Rutherford. Rutherford isn’t a big name anymore, and his release should make space available for an additional overseas player that RCB can look for in the Auction. Overall, RCB will have around INR 8 crores to invest in an overseas player. 

Bowlers

Main Bowlers: Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood & Mohammed Siraj 

Backup Bowlers: Akash Deep, Chama Milind, Jason Behrendorff & Siddharth Kaul

Coming to the bowling, RCB once again have a solid trio with man-to-man backup for each pacer. RCB should retain their first-choice pacers Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood & Mohammed Siraj with backup support in the form of Akash Deep, Chama Milind, Jason Behrendorff & Siddharth Kaul.

The only question that RCB shall have from the pacers is whether to release the SMAT 2022 leading wicket-taker Siddharth Kaul. Ideally, RCB would like to stick to this core; at least for one more season, and then take a call for IPL 2024. However, the team could let go of Karn Sharma as they already have Wanindu Hasaranga for this position. 

IPL 2023: Strongest Predicted Retained Squad for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Total Players: 20 // Purse Remaining: ~INR 8.05 Crores

Batters: Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai & Virat Kohli

WKs: Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Finn Allen & Luvnith Sisodia

All-rounders: David Willey, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed & Wanindu Hasaranga

Bowlers: Akash Deep, Chama Milind, Harshal Patel, Jason Behrendorff, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj & Siddharth Kaul

So, that completes the strongest predicted retained squad and players list for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for IPL 2023. With these retentions, RCB will have around INR 8 crores to spend on 1 overseas and 4 more Indian players. However, the team is already filled with potential superstars, and they won’t have much movement in the Auction.   

Thanks for reading! What’s your retained Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) squad for IPL 2023? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com

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