'His high price tag was likely a factor in the release.'
Spin great Anil Kumble suggested Liam Livingstone's below-par performance in IPL 2025 along coupled with his high price tag could be the likely reasons behind defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru's decision to release him ahead of the next year's auction.
The England all-rounder featured for RCB during their title-winning IPL 2025 campaign after being signed for Rs 8.75 crore at the previous mega auction.
However, he struggled to make an impact -- scoring just 112 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 133.33, with a lone half-century apart from taking only two wickets in nine overs, conceding at 8.44 runs per over.
Kumble said that while Livingstone is a valuable all-rounder with explosive batting, versatile spin bowling and strong fielding, his poor showing in this year's IPL and absence from the England squad likely contributed to his release. He feels RCB need to strengthen their bowling depth -- especially the pace department.
He stated how Livingstone had excelled in IPL 2022 at Punjab Kings coach when he was the head coach.
"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," Kumble said on JioStar's show IPL Retention.
"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," he added.
Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Saba Karim expressed surprise at RCB's decision to release Swastik Chikhara, who was bought at his base price of Rs 30 lakh last year.
Chikara, who didn't IPL 2025. Ahead of last year's auction, Chikara was the top run-getter in the UP T20 league with 499 runs and had also done decently in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
"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," Saba Karim said.
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