Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) great AB de Villiers shared his views on the franchise’s star recruit of Venkatesh Iyer at the IPL 2026 auction, which was held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. Iyer had been released by Kolkata Knight Riders after the 2025 season, having previously been bought for a hefty ₹23.75 crore.
At the 2026 auction, RCB secured his services for ₹7 crore. De Villiers felt the defending champions had picked him up at a bargain and described it as a significant acquisition. He also lauded RCB’s other additions, such as Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, and Jacob Duffy.
That said, the former South Africa captain believed the team could have further strengthened their squad by bringing in a wrist-spinner.
“There was no panic at the auction and no surprise with it. They are the defending champions and there’s reason for that and you don’t want to change the winning recipe. Jordan Cox is a good signing. Bit of a backup. I don’t know how much he will play but a very talented youngster. Venki Iyer is the big signing. They got him at a very big discount. The main one I want to talk about is Mangesh Yadav.”
“Backup for Yash Dayal, maybe he will be more than a backup. Also Jacob Duffy was a nice backup for Hazlewood. It is a championship winning squad. Maybe a little bit lacking in the X factor spin department. Would have been nice to see another wrist-spinner. But I feel RCB have a chance to defend the title,” he said on his YouTube channel.
AB De Villiers Backs KKR’s Death Bowling Alternatives
AB de Villiers also shared his thoughts on KKR’s recruitment. Although he acknowledged Australia all-rounder Cameron Green as their headline purchase, he felt the franchise bolstered its death-overs bowling by bringing in Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman.
“KKR went big on the overseas stars. Green is the big one. Pathirana, as he was just about to become the senior player of CSK, KKR said they would like to use all of his experience and have that firepower. Mustafizur always gets wickets and is dangerous at the backend. It is difficult to pick up the slower ones, and they have got good insurance for the death overs with him there,” he said.
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