New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) Former India captain Anil Kumble believes that Liam Livingstone’s high price was likely a factor in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s decision to release him into the IPL 2026 auction pool.

Livingstone played for RCB in their title-winning IPL 2025 season after being bought for Rs. 8.75 crore at last year’s mega auction. However, he had an underwhelming time – scoring 112 runs in eight innings with a strike rate of 133.33, including one half-century, and taking two wickets in nine overs with an economy rate of 8.44.

It would be interesting to see if RCB or any other team ropes him in for the IPL 2026 auction, to be held in Abu Dhabi, on December 16. “Releases are always tough calls. Liam Livingstone is someone I enjoyed working with closely, and he was extremely good for Punjab in IPL 2022, probably his best IPL season. He can change the game single-handedly in just a few overs with his powerful batting.”

“What makes him special is his bowling flexibility; he bowls leg spin to right-handers and off spin to left-handers, plus he’s a good fielder, making him a complete package. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a great IPL season for RCB last year and also missed out on selection for England.”

“Otherwise, I’m sure other franchises would be interested in him. His high price tag was likely a factor in the release. RCB also needs to find backup options, both an overseas fast bowler and an Indian fast bowler to support their main bowling attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. This need for bowling depth might be another reason behind this tough call,” said Kumble, a former RCB skipper, on JioStar.

Saba Karim, former India wicketkeeper-batter and national selector, questioned RCB’s decision to release young batter Swastik Chikara. “It’s a splendid position for RCB to be finally being called as the defending champions. Talking about their auction plans, they can still buy back Liam Livingstone in the mini-auction if he doesn’t go for too high a price.”

“I’m also surprised they didn’t retain Swastik Chikara, who was an excellent buy last season after his prolific performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I was actually expecting him to get a game, but he didn’t play a single match and now, hasn’t been retained. If RCB wants to strengthen their batting lineup, there are several Indian uncapped batsmen they can target in the auction to build their squad depth for the upcoming season,” he added.

–IANS

nr/ab