"CSK will try to get him back" - RCB reveal their planning before going after Faf du Plessis at IPL 2022 auction  

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) signed veteran South African batter Faf du Plessis on Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction last week. The franchise acquired the services of the former Proteas skipper for ₹7 crore at the event.

The Bangalore-based franchise recently shared a video on their social media handles showing how the team planned on going after du Plessis. Mike Hesson, the team's director of cricket operations, highlighted that the seasoned campaigner would be a great value addition to their roster.

He pointed out that du Plessis has the attributes that RCB want in a leader, considering that he has led the South African team for several years in international cricket. He also underlined the right-handed batter's fabulous record in the cash-rich league.

Hesson said:

“With the options we have in our current squad and the uncertainty surrounding those, and the options we have at the auction, where we think we can gain a real advantage is with Faf du Plessis who is highly experienced. He has captained South Africa for long, won the IPL many times and is a very consistent performer in terms of how he operates. He's a strong character and is highly respected. These are a lot of attributes you want in a leader,”

Hesson predicted that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would be keen to re-sign du Plessis during the auction. He suggested that while it is expected that CSK will target the 37-year-old, not many would anticipate Bangalore going after him.

He added:

“It's pretty clear that CSK will likely try and get him back, as they do with all their players. He's also in the marquee group; for us to have some structure going forward, we need to allocate some budget to get that. We would want to go through teams who might look at him. CSK will obviously make a bid, no one will expect us in terms of who we are likely to go for,"

While CSK did make the opening bid after du Plessis' name was announced, they ultimately stopped at ₹3.2 crore. Delhi Capitals (DC) also expressed interest in signing the experienced batter. However, they lost the bidding war to Bangalore.

RCB squad for IPL 2022

Bangalore have a 22-member squad for this year's edition of the competition. They spent ₹50.45 crore over the two days at the auction. Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga were their biggest buys, both coming at ₹10.75 crore each.

RCB squad: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohd. Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Fin Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Millind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Luvnith Sisodia, David Willey.