'I called, he was angry...' RCB made a big revelation, told why they did not buy Yuzvendra Chahal?
Yuzvendra Chahal, RCB, Indian Premier League: Why did RCB not retain Yuzvendra Chahal? No one ever gave any clarification regarding this. Nor did Chahal ever discuss anything on this. But before the 17th edition of IPL, former RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson has made many revelations regarding this.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction frequently features some extremely startling decisions. A similar incident occurred before the IPL 2022 mega auction. Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was sent to the mega auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), captained by Virat Kohli after the team failed to keep him. Among the most startling choices ever made is this one. because in the IPL and T20 cricket formats, Chahal is India's most successful bowler.
Nobody ever explained to me why RCB took this action. Chahal never talked about this topic either. However, Mike Hesson, the former Director of Cricket at the RCB, made several revelations about this before the 17th IPL season. He claimed that Chahal received a personal call outlining the rationale for his release. Hesson said that Chahal was upset and did not show interest in the conversation.
Hesson said, 'We wanted to buy Chahal in the auction by making a big bid. I know that because I was with the team in all this planning. I remember that later when I called Chahal, he was upset. Trying to explain the dynamics of the auction to them at that time was very difficult. Chahal was very sad and it is natural for this to happen. He was one of the most important players of RCB and he was not retained. But I can assure everyone that he was well aware of the issues we were facing at that time.
Hesson further said, 'I spoke to Chahal when we did the initial retention and we retained only three players because we felt we wanted to try to buy back both Harshal Patel and Chahal in the auction. However, due to the mega auction, things became a bit complicated. Despite being one of the best players of IPL, he did not find a place in the list of marquee players. His name came in the auction after 64 players. That meant it was really difficult for us to guarantee whether we were going to buy them or not.'
Because of this, RCB bought back Harshal, but Chahal was bought by Rajasthan Royals (RR). In his place, RCB included Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga in its team. RCB's decision to release Chahal came as a big shock. RCB had retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj before the auction. Later in the auction, Chahal was bought by Rajasthan Royals with a bid of Rs 6.5 crore.
