His value was too excessive

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Mohammad Kaif mirrored on star all-rounder Liam Livingstone’s launch forward of the IPL 2026 public sale. The defending champions launched Livingstone as he did not justify his price ticket.

The English all-rounder was acquired by RCB for a good-looking quantity of ₹8.75 crore. Nonetheless, he disenchanted, scoring simply 112 runs from eight innings at a mean of 16 and a strike-rate of 133.33. With the ball, he bagged two wickets in 5 innings at a mean of 38 and an economic system of 8.44.

Kaif reckoned that West Indian all-rounder Romario Shepherd carried out effectively for the crew and leapfrogged Livingstone. Whereas he expressed that Livingstone may have been retained, he additionally admitted that his value was too excessive.

“RCB will need an all-rounder rather than Livingstone. They’ll solely go for 2-3 gamers and no more. If Romario Shepherd was not there, Livingstone wouldn’t have been launched. Shepherd did effectively with each bat and ball. Livingstone doesn’t have a lot of a task left. Livingstone may have been stored however his value was too excessive,” he stated on his YouTube channel.

RCB will head into the IPL 2026 public sale with a handbag of ₹16.4 crore. Having received the trophy in 2025, they’ll look to fine-tune and additional strengthen their squad on the public sale.

Mohammad Kaif shocked at RCB releasing Swastik Chikara

Amongst RCB’s releases was right-handed batter Swastik Chikara. He was acquired by the franchise for simply ₹30 Lakh. Nonetheless, he didn’t play a single match final season.

Mohammad Kaif was shocked that the franchise launched Chikara. Kaif hailed him as a strong younger batter and expressed that he ought to have been groomed if he was picked for his potential. Nonetheless, he added that components comparable to present kind, his habits and angle whereas coaching might have influenced the choice.

“I used to be shocked that they launched Swastik Chikara. He’s a really strong younger batter. I feel folks see present kind lots however I’ve seen Chikara scoring double tons of and hitting large sixes. Is his present kind a purpose to drop him? I feel if you happen to introduced him on potential, then it is advisable to groom a younger participant. Give him a 12 months or two a minimum of and make him prepared. However we are going to by no means know what’s the notion a couple of younger participant inside the camp. Franchises see if they’re working exhausting and coaching effectively within the nets in addition to their habits. However you should additionally know good parenting,” he stated.

Notably, Chikara was beforehand a part of the Delhi Capitals (DC) arrange however didn’t play a recreation for them both. Due to this fact, he’s but to make his debut within the IPL.