Royal Challengers Bengaluru's auction debacle worsens as they fail to secure Will Jacks

Royal Challengers Bengaluru faced criticism for their decisions in the IPL 2025 auction as they released several of their key players and did not use the Right to Match (RTM) cards on them. One of their former stars, Will Jacks, who had scored a century for the team in the previous season, was particularly in focus. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif expressed his disappointment at RCB's failure to retain Jacks, as the player entered the auction on Day 2 and attracted bids from Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians. Ultimately, the five-time champions outbid PBKS with a ₹5.25 Crore offer to secure Jacks' services. Many had expected RCB to exercise their RTM option for Jacks, but to everyone's surprise, they did not. This move puzzled and shocked many fans and experts alike, leading to further scrutiny of RCB's strategies in the auction.

Kaif asserted that Jacks played a pivotal role in RCB's massive turnaround in the second half of the IPL 2024 where they won back-to-back matches and qualified for playoffs.

"Jacks saved their honor last year. RCB came in the top four because of him. I remember two matches. He helped RCB beat SRH (SunRisers Hyderabad) in Hyderabad with his bowling and scored a hundred against GT (Gujarat Titans) in Ahmedabad off 40 balls. So Will Jacks won them two matches on his own and they didn't take him," Kaif said on Jio Cinema.

In the last season with RCB, he scored 230 runs in eight matches, including a century and fifty and was also handy with the ball.

Kaif said that it seems like RCB was in no mood to sign the good players as they let go off Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jacks despite having a big purse entering the auction. However, he claimed not using RTM for Jacks at INR 5.25 crore was a big blunder for them.

"RCB said they don't want good players. They let (Rishabh) Pant and KL (Rahul) go, and he (Jacks) played well for them. It's not easy for any batter to score a hundred. The RCB fans will be extremely disappointed. We have seen from yesterday (Day 1) that RCB's auction planning was bad, and today (Day 2) they went from bad to worse. I believe not taking Jacks is a massive miss," Kaif added.