Royal Challengers Bengaluru's auction strategy ripped apart after they miss out on Will Jacks: ‘…went from bad to worse’
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced the heat for their business in the IPL 2025 auction as they let go of their former star players and didn't use RTM cards on them. Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif also lashed out at RCB for not using an RTM option for Will Jacks, who scored a century while playing for them last season. Jacks came into the auction on Day 2 and Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians straightaway engaged in the bidding war to sign him. The five-time champions outbid PBKS with a ₹5.25 Crore offer, while many expected RCB to raise the RTM paddle for him, but they didn't, which shocked many.
Kaif asserted that Jacks played a pivotal role in RCB's massive turnaround in the second half of the IPL 2024 where they won back-to-back matches and qualified for playoffs.
"Jacks saved their honor last year. RCB came in the top four because of him. I remember two matches. He helped RCB beat SRH (SunRisers Hyderabad) in Hyderabad with his bowling and scored a hundred against GT (Gujarat Titans) in Ahmedabad off 40 balls. So Will Jacks won them two matches on his own and they didn't take him," Kaif said on Jio Cinema.
‘Not taking Will Jacks is a massive miss’
In the last season with RCB, he scored 230 runs in eight matches, including a century and fifty and was also handy with the ball.
Kaif said that it seems like RCB was in no mood to sign the good players as they let go off Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jacks despite having a big purse entering the auction. However, he claimed not using RTM for Jacks at INR 5.25 crore was a big blunder for them.
"RCB said they don't want good players. They let (Rishabh) Pant and KL (Rahul) go, and he (Jacks) played well for them. It's not easy for any batter to score a hundred. The RCB fans will be extremely disappointed. We have seen from yesterday (Day 1) that RCB's auction planning was bad, and today (Day 2) they went from bad to worse. I believe not taking Jacks is a massive miss," Kaif added.
