Virat Kohli had announced IPL 2021 would be his last season as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain.
Indian batter Shreyas Iyer is expected to trigger a bidding war in the upcoming IPL 2022 mega-auction, to be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13. A few franchises would be looking to sign him for the captaincy role.
But as per the former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are prepared to challenge the other potential bidders. He revealed someone told him that RCB have kept INR 20 crore, especially for Iyer.
“Now Ishan Kishan has been left out, it means money will be saved for Ishan Kishan and high bids will be placed on Shreyas Iyer. It could be 15-16 crores as well, someone told me that RCB has kept 20 crores for Shreyas Iyer," Chopra said on his official YouTube channel.
The 27-year-old has led Delhi Capitals (DC) to IPL 2020 final, where they lost to Mumbai Indians (MI). DC had replaced Iyer with Rishabh Pant for the captaincy in IPL 2021 after he missed the first half due to a shoulder injury.
Punjab Kings (PBKS), who released their ex-captain, KL Rahul, ahead of the auction have INR 72 crore in their purse, might also eye Iyer in the auction for the upcoming IPL cycle.
However, Chopra believes more than Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and RCB will be looking to get Iyer in their squad. “Shreyas Iyer could be a potential captain of KKR or RCB. I don’t think Punjab would be looking at him," he said.
The cricket pundit further said we could have seen a 'tug of war' for the most expensive player if Ishan Kishan was in the marquee set.
“The most expensive player, to be very honest, is going to be Shreyas Iyer. In this list, the most expensive will be Iyer because Ishan Kishan is not there. If Ishan was there, there could’ve been a tug of war. Now, they will reserve money for Ishan and money will be splashed out for Iyer,” he added.
Speaking on the most expensive overseas player, Chopra has picked South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock, along with Australia's David Warner, who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“The three most expensive overseas players will be Rabada, and then one of Quinton de Kock or David Warner will be the most expensive overseas player as well. There’s a good possibility," he said.
(With Aakash Chopra's Youtube channel Inputs)