Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said Mike Hesson, the director of cricket at the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), promised that the franchise would bid for him in the mega auction. Before the auction of IPL 2022, RCB retained former skipper Virat Kohli, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj and Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. But in the mega auction, RCB […]
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said Mike Hesson, the director of cricket at the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), promised that the franchise would bid for him in the mega auction. Before the auction of IPL 2022, RCB retained former skipper Virat Kohli, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj and Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
But in the mega auction, RCB didn’t bid for the veteran leg-break bowler. Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) joined the bidding war after which Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) threw their hat in the ring. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) joined the bidding at INR 6 crore and bagged the tweaker for INR 6.50 crores.
“The reality is that Mike Hesson called me and said ‘Listen Yuzi, there are three retentions.’ They didn’t ask me whether I wanted to be retained or tell me if they wanted to retain me. They just talked about the three retentions and I was told that – ‘we will go for you in the auction’,” Chahal was quoted as saying to the Times of India (TOI).
Chahal started his career for the Mumbai-based team before moving to the Challengers in 2014. He stayed at the Bangalore-based team for eight seasons before making a move to the Royals. The veteran said that despite not being a part of RCB anymore, his heart will be in Bangalore.
“Neither was I asked about money nor did I get any offer of retention. But I will always be loyal to my Bangalore fans. I love them so much, no matter what,” he stated.
Chahal said that he would have answered in the affirmative if RCB gave him an optioned to be retained before the mega auction.
“The thing is they never asked me. They just called me and told me about the three retentions. If they had asked me whether I wanted to be retained, I would have said yes. Because money is secondary to me,” Chahal added.
In 114 matches in the IPL, Chahal has picked up 139 wickets at an economy rate of 7.59 with best bowling figures of 4/25. For RCB, Chahal mostly bowled on pitches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium where batters made hay more often than not.
