IPL 2020: 5 players who could return to their former franchises

2. Robin Uthappa (RCB)

Robin Uthappa's 374 runs at 31.16 are his best returns for his first IPL franchise

After finishing as wooden spoon holders for consecutive seasons, change seems to be the buzzword for the Bengaluru franchise. It started with a fresh set of faces in the backroom staff, including Mike Hesson as director of cricket and Simon Katich as coach. And the mantra of change continued with the franchise releasing a whopping 12 players from their roster ahead of the 2020 season.

Auction strategy will be one of the primary talking points for the new management, as their previous high value purchases have failed to fire consistently for the team (Shimron Hetmyer and Pawan Negi come to mind). On top of their shopping list at the moment would be a batsman, preferably Indian, who can hold their famously fragile middle order together while having the firepower to go big at the death.

KKR's release of their long-time 'keeper Robin Uthappa may have answered both needs for RCB.

Uthappa was the wicketkeeper for RCB in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, but was released from the franchise after unflattering returns with the bat. Since then, he has been at Pune Warriors and the Kolkata Knight Riders, with whom he has the experience of winning the IPL crown in 2014.

Uthappa's safe hands as a keeper and his aggressiveness as a batsman could be the exact skill set that his old franchise RCB would be looking to have.