Royal Challengers Bangalore's star buy at IPL 2023 Auction ruled out of tournament: Report

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have suffered a huge blow to their IPL 2023 campaign as their star buy from the auction has been ruled out of the upcoming edition. According to reports, England batsman Will Jacks has been forced to pull out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to injury concerns. RCB acquired Jacks at IPL 2023 auction in December for a whopping sum of Rs. 3.2 crore. 

As per ESPNcricinfo, Jacks suffered an injury during the second ODI match between England and Bangladesh. He sustained the muscle injury while fielding for England in the match in Mirpur. After scans confirmed the extent of the injury, Jacks decided to make himself unavailable for the upcoming IPL 2023. He did that after consulting with a specialist. Jacks was bought by RCB as a cover for Glenn Maxwell in the middle order.

As per reports, the RCB management is currently in talks with New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell, who might join the franchise as a replacement for Jacks. Bracewell is yet to make his IPL debut as he remained unsold at last year's auction. He had kept his base price at Rs. 1 crore. RCB are scheduled to play their first match of the season against Mumbai Indians on April 2. 

The 24-year-old Will Jacks made his international debut for England in September 2022. He played his first game for his country in a T20I series against Pakistan in September 2022. Jacks made his Test debut a couple of months later and then received the cap for ODIs as well. Jacks has played a total of six games for England and has scored 156 runs. 

RCB's squad for IPL 2023

RCB's squad: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf Du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav.

Image: BCCI/IPL