Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) did brilliantly in the IPL 2026 mini-auction and signed the star all-rounder. Venkatesh Iyer For Rs 7 crore. The Madhya Pradesh cricketer was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the auction after failing to reach his price tag of Rs 23.75 crore in IPL 2025. De Villiers said that RCB acquired his services at a discounted price.
The 41-year-old also praised the RCB think tank for some of its other signings including Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav and Jacob Duffy. However, the cricketer turned specialist feels that RCB have missed a trick by not including a leg spinner in their setup.
He said on his YouTube channel, “There was no panic in the auction and there were no surprises. They are the defending champions, and there is a reason for that, and you don't want to change the winning recipe. Jordan Cox is a good signing. A bit of a backup. I don't know how much he will play but a very talented young player. Venky Iyer is the big signing. They bought him at a huge discount.”
He said, “Mainly I want to talk about Mangesh Yadav. Backup to Yash Dayal, maybe he will be more than a backup. Also Jacob Duffy was a good backup to Hazlewood. This is a championship-winning team. Maybe the
RCB ended their title drought last season by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a thrilling final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Coming back to the contract with Venkatesh, it will be interesting to see where the 30-year-old bats in the upcoming season. He batted in the top order for KKR. However, during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, he began batting at numbers five and six before opening the batting in Madhya Pradesh's last three matches in the campaign.
Get every cricket update! Follow us,
Leave a Reply