Aakash Chopra also explained why RCB didn't retain Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) didn't retain Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction as the franchise secured the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj for the upcoming IPL 2022.
Ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, former Indian cricketer and commentator, Aakash Chopra, feels the RCB can buy them back at a decent price for INR 7-8 crores in the mega auction. Chahal and Patel were RCB's highest wicket-takers in IPL 2021, with 19 and 32 wickets, respectively.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was asked whether RCB did the right thing by not retaining Chahal and Patel, and the commentator admitted that it must have definitely been a tough task for the franchise, but the duo could be bought for a fee of about 7-8 crores.
Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “It's a good question. They would have thought about both of them, but they would have thought about whether they can buy them again at 7-8 crores. I think you can buy back both of them for 7-8 crores.”
He further added, “The choice might have been between Siraj and Harshal, on whom to retain between the two. It would have been a big toss-up. They decided to retain Siraj, which I think is actually a good idea from both the long-term and short-term perspectives.”
Chopra also made a bold statement, saying Harshal might not be as effective on the batter-friendly surfaces as he was in Chennai or the UAE. He added, “The conditions are going to be different. The cricket you saw till now was on different grounds, the Wankhede ground in Mumbai might not suit Harshal that much, Chinnaswamy might not suit. So I think that's fair.”
According to Chopra, Harshal and Chahal might have wanted in excess of INR 10 crores each from RCB, and the franchise didn't find that appropriate and let them go ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.
He signed off by saying, “One more thing is what Harshal and Yuzi want. Yuzi might have said that he wants 10 crores and you as a franchise might not have found that appropriate, and you would buy him back at the auction. You might get back Yuzi Chahal in your team in 6-6.5 crores, Harshal might also come back without spending a lot more. I don't think it's that bad a decision.”