Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have parted ways with 11 players, including star pacer Josh Hazlewood ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction on December 19, 2023. Hazlewood was one of the six overseas players released by the franchise which is yet to win an IPL trophy. Hazlewood was a top performer for Australia during their World Cup triumph earlier this month. As a result, his release has come as a shock to many. Meanwhile, the franchise has traded Cameron Green from Mumbai Indians.
The likes of Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga, who performed decently for the team over the last two years, have also been laid off by the franchise.
RCB traded Mayank Dagar from SunRisers Hyderabad, with all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed heading the other way as a part of the deal.
Dagar, who represents Himachal Pradesh in the domestic circuit, has previously also been a part of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). In the 2023 IPL season, he played just 3 games and took 1 wicket.
Among the retained players are: Skipper Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, all-rounder Will Jacks (who missed out the whole last season due to injury), Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Siraj etc.
RCB finished sixth last season, winning seven and losing seven. They failed to qualify for playoffs.
Players retained: Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Vyshak Vijaykumar
Players released: Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav
Players traded in: Mayank Dagar, Cameron Green (traded from Mumbai Indians).