Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise decided to retain three players before mega auction for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 in form of Virat Kohli, Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj. Surprisingly, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was not retained by RCB. Ahead of his first game of the season, the 31-year-old spinner revealed that he was informed by RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson before mega auction that they are moving forward with three retentions.
Chahal speaks
"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'. 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," Chahal told The Times of India.
"I have a close bond with RCB, especially with the fans. I got to play a lot of matches with the team. I am emotionally attached to RCB. I never thought I would play for some other team. People and fans on social media are still asking me 'why did you ask for this much money?' The reality is that Mike Hesson (RCB Director of Cricket) called me and said 'Listen Yuzi, there are three retentions' (Kohli, Maxwell and Siraj),’ the Royals spinner further added.
Chahal's new team
At the mega auction for the 15th edition of IPL, Chahal was roped in by Royals for an amount of Rs 6.50 Crore. While four franchises were interested in acquiring Chahal's services, RCB did not place a single bid for him as they went after Sri Lankan spin all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Earlier, Chahal had played for RCB for eight seasons and picked up 139 wickets in 113 matches for the Bangalore-based franchise.
The Sanju Samson-led franchise will start their IPL 2022 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 29. The two teams will face each other at Pune’s MCA Stadium.
Rajasthan Royals Squad for IPL 2022
Sanju Samson (captain and wicketkeeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Obed McCoy
