India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s seven year long association with Royal Challengers Bangalore came to an end ahead of Indian Premier League 2022. The Bengaluru-based franchise retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammad Siraj in the retentions announced last week, making the leg-spinner available in the mega auction. Former India cricketer and commentator Laxman Sivaramakrishnan backs the spinner to get big bucks in the mega auction.
Chahal has been one of the key players for RCB over the years. Although he struggled to get into rhythm in the first half of the 2021 season and was dropped from the national team for the T20 World Cup, he made a stronger comeback in the second leg of the league that was held in UAE.
Over the years, he boasts of 139 wickets for RCB. The franchise’s home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium known for its short boundaries and a batting-friendly pitch is considered a nightmare for bowlers. However, the attacking leg spinner had been skipper Kohli’s go-to man, especially in middle overs. Sivaramakrishnan reckons that the franchise would definitely try to buy him back in the auction, like they did in 2018.
“RCB would want to buy him back. The other teams would want Chahal on their side because of his exceptional record in the IPL. The people who have more money will have the luxury of going for Chahal. In the end, Chahal might end up getting more money for being in the auction than by being retained,” the commentator told NDTV in a media interaction.
Several other sought-after players such as David Warner, KL Rahul, Shubhman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Steve Smith and Ben Stokes will now be available in the mega auction. With the addition of two new teams based out of Lucknow and Ahmedabad in the IPL, ten teams looking to build the best teams will make the mega auction an exciting event.
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