NEW DELHI: Looking for a complete revamp, Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru had some terrific buys at the mega auction last week but former India opener Aakash Copra feels that their weakened spin attack will be a big worry going forward.
Having previously retained left-arm pacer Yash Dayal, the franchise roped in Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rasikh Salam to bolster their pace attack but in spin department they added the likes of Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma along with using their RTM card on Swapnil Singh.
Chopra feels that the spin bowling attack RCB have is not going to worry the majority of franchise and not picking a good spinner is going to cost them.
"RCB haven't found a good spin bowler after Yuzi Chahal. They have bought Krunal Pandya but he is very defensive. Krunal is not your wicket-taking left-arm spinner. He is a defensive option. He can bat but he’s Krunal Pandya. He is not Yuzi Chahal.
"Second, they have is Suyash Sharma. Then they have Swapnil (Singh). Now Swapnil, Suyash, Krunal and (Liam) Livingstone, if RCB think this is their spin bowling attack then you will be worried. RCB used RTM on Swapnil. So, it was interesting that RCB used RTM on Swapnil. So, the spin attack is obviously weak. I thought they would go for Noor Ahmad. They could have also brought back Shahbaz Ahmed. RCB did not focus on spin and that could be their Achilles heel," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra was also surprised with RCB's decision not to go for explosive English batter Will Jacks, who notched up a ton for the franchise last IPL season.
Jacks played 8 matches for RCB last season and accumulated 230 runs at a strike rate of 175.57. However, RCB did not go for the 26-year-old at the auction and also did not use their RTM card for him.
“We all thought that RCB would keep Will Jacks. What RCB would have thought that our top order is sorted and we do not want Jacks at the top. Jacks could have played as an opener. Leaving Will Jacks was a bit of a surprise for me," Chopra added.
Mumbai Indians eventually bought Jacks for Rs 5.25 crore.
Virat Kohli, who is set to take back the captaincy duties at RCB, ended as the most expensive player for the team -- retained for Rs 21 crore.
