'One player that slipped away' - Mike Hesson rues not signing present day IPL star for RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) made some massive changes ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, taking some bold moves in and after the mega auction. Before the auction, RCB retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj before IPL 2022 and bought players like Faf du Plessis and Wanindu Hasaranga.

The Bangalore-based franchise appointed Faf as their new leader and entered a new era with a change in leadership and personnel. Mike Hesson, former director of cricket operations at RCB, had a massive role in tactics adopted by the franchise to target specific players in the auction.

While he is no longer a part of RCB, Hesson has left the team in a better shape, with plenty for the newly-appointed coaches to build on. There is plenty of talent and depth in the squad, and Hesson must get credit for such a strong force acquired by RCB.

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The Kiwi analyst chatted on a show with Cricket.com, where he revealed various stuff regarding his time with RCB. He also talked about a talented young player who was on their radar in IPL before Mumbai Indians (MI) bought him.

Mike Hesson rues against not signing Tilak Varma for RCB

Talking to Cricket.com, Mike Hesson disclosed that they were planning to bid for Tilak Varma in the IPL 2022 auction, and he was on their scouting list. However, RCB eventually went for Rajat Patidar.

“I think Tilak Varma was one player that slipped away. He was on our scouting list. We went for Rajat Patidar at that time. We needed to make a decision on who we were going for.”

Hesson added that Tilak was susceptible to short balls, but he has managed to score runs. According to Hesson, an LHB would have been helpful in RCB.

“It would have been nice to have another left-hander in the top-order. There was a lot of talk that he was susceptible to the short ball domestically. But certainly since he’s come to the IPL, he’s made every post a winner. I think he is one that I wish that we pushed a little bit harder for. All good in hindsight but he’s proven that he is a high-quality player. Being a left-hander would always be helpful for that RCB top-order.”

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