Bengaluru will suit me better than Punjab in IPL, says Livingstone

England all-rounder Liam Livingstone expressed his excitement after he was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, stating that his new team would be a better fit for his playing style next season.

Livingstone, who made his IPL debut in 2019 with Rajasthan Royals, spent the last three seasons with Punjab Kings where the middle-order batter scored 827 runs in the world's richest Twenty20 league.

But the 31-year-old was released ahead of the mega auction and Bengaluru, who were revamping their squad, bought him for 87.5 million Indian rupees ($1.04 million) after a bidding war with Chennai Super Kings.

Livingstone said he could not wait to play for RCB, especially in home games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium which has often produced high-scoring games due to shorter boundaries.

"The fan base is very passionate. It's probably one of the biggest franchises in IPL... It's a bit of a fresh start for me," Livingstone told Reuters.

"I think Bangalore is going to be very good for my game. It's a little bit smaller than some of the stadiums in India, certainly better than what Punjab was for me. Hopefully, my game should suit that place well."

Livingstone said he vividly remembers watching RCB's batting trio of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers on TV.

But he added that "there's a lot of work to be done" before he can recreate a similar impact with Kohli and English opener Phil Salt, who RCB bought for 115 million Indian rupees as they seek their first IPL trophy.

"I think we had a really good auction. We've got some good players, we picked up quite cleverly," he said.

"There's a few people in that team I know really well, so I'm pretty excited to get out there as a group. Playing with