Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad raised questions about Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and their lack of investment in local talent over the years. He asked whether the franchise is more focused on building a brand or truly committed to winning the Indian Premier League (IPL). RCB will begin their campaign against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In their current squad, RCB includes two Karnataka talents: all-rounder Manoj Bhandage, who hasn’t played a single game since being signed in 2023, and Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal. Padikkal had two strong seasons with RCB in 2020 and 2021, followed by two decent seasons with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and a disappointing season with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last year, where he managed just 38 runs in seven matches. He was re-acquired by RCB in last year’s auction for his base price of Rs 2 crores.
Over the years, several Karnataka stars like Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, and Mayank Agarwal have played for the franchise. Despite their varying degrees of success, RCB has primarily relied on the performance of their star batter Virat Kohli and foreign players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell. This contrasts with many other IPL franchises that have had or still have a local player as their face.
Speaking on JioHotstar about RCB’s management, Venkatesh Prasad said, “How a team is managed makes all the difference. Other teams are putting faith in local talent, so why
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