Indian leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was roped in by Rajasthan Royals at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction last month after being released by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Chahal was part of the RCB squad for total of eight seasons from IPL 2014 to 2021 before being released by the franchise ahead of the ongoing season.
One of the best spinners in the league at present, Chahal enjoyed an incredibly successful spell at RCB and became their leading wicket-taker of all time with 139 wickets in 113 matches at an average of 22.03. The leg-spinner recently opened up on parting ways with his former side and said he had never thought he would play for some other team in the IPL.
Chahal said the RCB management didn’t have any discussions with him about retaining him ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction nor was there any sort of an offer from the franchise for him. Chahal revealed RCB’s Director of Cricket Mike Hesson had called him before the auction to inform him that the franchise was retaining three players – Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj.
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“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’ (Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj),” Chahal said in an interview with Times of India.
“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,” he added.
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Chahal now has a new side in Rajasthan Royals and is looking to repeat his heroics from the past seasons for his new team this year. The leg-spinner was roped in by RR for a sum of Rs 6.5 crore (INR 65 million) at the mega auction and is raring to repay the faith shown in him by the franchise.
“Obviously. The jersey will be different, but the Yuzi will be the same. You will see the same kind of wicket-taking performances and celebrations from me. It’s a new journey for me and I am very excited about it. Everything will be the same, only the jersey will change. The way I bowled and performed for RCB, I will do the same for RR as well. Nothing is going to change. RR showed faith in me at the auction,” said Chahal, who has 139 wickets to his name in 100 matches in his IPL career.
