"It's going to be very difficult in bowling once again" - Irfan Pathan on RCB's bowling issues heading into IPL 2024

Irfan Pathan reckons the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) bowling will continue to be their Achilles heel in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024).

The Bangalore-based franchise released a plethora of bowlers, including prominent names like Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, David Willey and Wayne Parnell ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. Alzarri Joseph (₹11.5 crore), Yash Dayal (₹5 crore), Lockie Ferguson (₹2 crore) and Tom Curran (₹1.5 crore) were their big-ticket seam-bowling acquisitions at the auction.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan wasn't too optimistic about the Royal Challengers Bangalore's bowling lineup. He elaborated:

"It's going to be very difficult in bowling once again. RCB thought that they had tried a lot of things in fast bowling. They had tried swing and a little variation in Harshal Patel. Now they have run after pace."

The former India all-rounder noted that Joseph and Ferguson are likely to prove expensive at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"Do Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson have the control? Their economies will go even higher at the Chinnaswamy. However, if they win matches even with the higher economy, they would have done their job," Pathan said.

Joseph picked up seven wickets in as many games for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2023 and had an economy rate of 9.37. Ferguson accounted for a solitary dismissal in the three games he played for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last season and conceded an average of 12.52 runs per over.

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"You didn't pick a spinner" - Irfan Pathan says RCB could have reacquired Wanindu Hasaranga

The SunRisers Hyderabad bought Wanindu Hasaranga for ₹1.50 crore at the IPL 2024 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Irfan Pathan questioned the Royal Challengers Bangalore for not buying any prominent spinner at the IPL 2024 auction. He stated:

"You didn't pick a spinner. Hasaranga went for just 1.50 crores. He went very cheap. You could have reacquired him considering the first season he had. RCB have done well when they had a good spinner for the middle overs."

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that RCB could have opted for a mystery spinner to perform the role Yuzvendra Chahal and Wanindu Hasaranga used to play.

"Either he should have something special. You need to bowl with courage on that pitch and Chahal used to do that. After that, Hasaranga came. He brought something different. I thought they would go for a mystery spinner," Pathan observed.

Pathan reckons Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who was bought by KKR for ₹2 crore, could have been a potential buy for the franchise. He added that the likes of Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh aren't X-factor bowlers and are only likely to play restrictive roles.