IPL 2022: RCB didn’t ask me whether I wanted to be retained – Yuzvendra Chahal

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has revealed that Royal Challengers Bangalore didn’t ask him whether he wanted to be retained before the IPL 2022 mega auction.

Chahal said that the franchise director of cricket Mike Hesson told him that there are going to retain only three players – Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj and they will go after him in the auction.

But surprisingly Royal Challengers Bangalore didn’t even make a single bid for Yuzvendra Chahal in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Chahal was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for INR 6.50 crores in the auction after a bidding war with Mumbai Indians.

“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.

Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal had played 113 matches for RCB in which he took 139 wickets at an average of 22.28 and an economy rate of 7.59. Chahal added that he shares a good bond with RCB fans as he played for the franchise for a long time.

“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’ (Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj).”

Chahal will now represent Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing season of the IPL and he will team up with veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Rajasthan Royals will play their first match of the IPL 2022 season on Tuesday evening against the SunRisers Hyderabad.

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Sanju Samson (c) (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), 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.