Indian Premier League teams have announced their list of retentions before IPL 2022. Like before every mega-auction, there were a few surprises. Royal Challengers Bangalore releasing Yuzvendra Chahal was one of them.
The highest wicket-taker of the franchise, Yuzi was a star performer at Chinnaswamy Stadium. Hence, it was a surprise that they did not retain him. Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj were the retentions for the Bengaluru-based outfit. The franchise did not make use of the fourth retention card. In this article, we take a look at two reasons why RCB didn’t retain Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of IPL 2022 Mega Auctions.
1) Agreement issues
There have been a few reports that suggest that RCB wanted to retain Yuzi but could not strike a deal with the leg-spinner. This might have been a possibility since Chahal might have valued himself higher than RCB’s estimate. Rightly so, Chahal is an experienced player and would surely garner a lot of attention at the auctions.
That said, RCB could still try to buy back their talisman at the auctions. Yuzi might not be picked by the new franchises and could be available at the bidding event. Therefore, RCB can still have him on their payroll.
2) Siraj could have been considered a better investment
It is also possible that RCB might have rated Mohammed Siraj higher than Yuzvendra Chahal in the picking order. A sum of close to INR 10 crores is actually pretty high for both cricketers. RCB could have decided about retaining any one player and hence, Yuzi could have been released.
Siraj’s growth has been immense in recent years. In IPL 2021, he showed that he had become a good T20 bowler, too. With Siraj in the team, RCB now has two overs in the powerplay and at the death covered. They can now build a fine bowling attack around him.