“This is scouting of a really good order” - R Ashwin’s massive praise for RCB after IPL 2026 auction

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hailed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for their shrewd signings at the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. The defending champions did not have a massive purse after retaining the majority of their squad, but made the most of their resources to rope in some exciting players.

RCB's most expensive signing of the IPL 2026 Auction was all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, after failing to acquire him last year. The franchise were involved in a short bidding war for the player with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who eventually pulled out when the price tag reached INR 7 crore.

RCB also managed to secure an overseas pacer as Josh Hazlewood's backup without much competition, as New Zealand's Jacob Duffy came in for his base price of INR 2 crore. With their priority signings done in the IPL Auction, the team focused on uncapped talent, going all out for left-arm pacer Mangesh Yadav, before closing out the auction with the signings of Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan.

"I want to praise and applaud RCB. They have snapped both Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan at 30 Lakhs. This is scouting of a really good order. If you do such scouting, then there will not be too much competition. Kanishk Chouhan will go on to do special things," R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. "How are RCB so lucky at the auction? Last time they went all out for Venkatesh Iyer, if KKR had pulled out back then, RCB's auction would have been over there itself. Now this time, even when KKR had the money, RCB were able to get him for 7 crore. RCB have once again had a fabulous auction," Ashwin added.

Vihaan Malhotra is currently featuring for the India U-19 side in the Under-19 Asia Cup. He recently scored 69 runs off 55 deliveries in the team's mammoth 234-run win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) U-19 team.

Kanishk Chouhan is also part of the same setup and is having a stellar all-round campaign in the Under-19 Asia Cup. He was the player of the match in the recent win over the Pakistan U-19 side after scoring a run-a-ball 46 and figures of 3-33.

"I am not happy with how this Josh Inglis situation has gone down" - R Ashwin on Australian wicket-keeper fetching 8.60 crores at IPL 2026 Auction

Josh Inglis was released by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the IPL auction as he was only poised to play 25 percent of the 2026 campaign. However, despite his availability concern, he became a hot commodity at the auction and ended up at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 8.60 crore, a massive hike from his previous price tag of INR 2.60 crore.

"I am not happy with how this Josh Inglis situation has gone down. He told Punjab Kings that he is not available, and because of that he was able to come into the IPL mini auction. He almost went at base price in the mega auction, and the two teams that bid were SRH and LSG, so there is a connection there," Ashwin said.

Josh Inglis made a massive impact for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their run to the final in the IPL 2025 season, where he scored 278 runs in 11 matches at an average of 30.89 and a strike rate of 162.57.

Edited by Gokul Nair