Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes Royal Challengers Bangalore were lucky not to snap up Australian captain Pat Cummins in the just-concluded IPL 2024 auction. There is. The Bangalore-based franchise was in a bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The Hyderabad-based franchise acquired him for a whopping 20.5 crores.
In a fierce bidding war between franchises, four teams competed for Cummins’ services, all vying for the experienced Australian captain. The bidding war intensified when SRH stepped in, making him the first player in IPL history when the Australian all-rounder’s bid crossed his Rs 200 crore mark, and then he acquired Cummins for a staggering Rs 205 crore. Did.
In a video posted on his YouTube account, Aakash Chopra says that even though Royal Challengers Bangalore has a bankroll of over 23.25 crores, Pat Cummins They questioned the strategy and tactics that cost more than 200 billion yen to get selected for the auction. Had Sunrisers Hyderabad withdrew from the bid, RCB’s bowling attack would have been extremely weak in the 2024 season as Cummins would have been hit all over the park at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“They decided they wanted Pat Cummins at all costs and kept going after him and kept raising the paddle. It got to 20 million, so I folded my hands and said, “Think about it for a second. If you got Pat Cummins for 20 million and you had 23.25 billion, would Pat Cummins have bowled from both sides?”
“If SRH had withdrawn at that point and acquired Pat Cummins for 2 billion yen, their team would have been very weak. If we had picked Pat Cummins on the Chinnaswamy pitch, which is a small, flat pitch, we would have suffered a big blow,” Aakash Chopra said.
In the last two seasons with Kolkata, the right-arm pacer did not live up to expectations, picking up just 16 wickets in 12 matches at 28.06 and an economy rate of 9.62, but last year he decided to focus on international matches. I skipped the IPL. It will be interesting to see if the Australian all-rounder can successfully contribute to the team in the cash-rich league.
Harshal Patel Was Thinking That Maybe They Would Show A Little More Faith – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra says he is disappointed that veteran Indian pacer Harshal Patel was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the auction, saying it was a tragic turn of events after two strong seasons last year. He added that he expects a little more confidence from the team management as they are facing a difficult season.
“RCB released Triple H (Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel). Harshal was with us at JioCinema. Harshal did not have a good season But he said he thought they might show a little more confidence because they had two very good seasons before that. But they didn’t,” added Aakash Chopra.
In 2021, Harshal Patel had a great season for RCB, taking 32 wickets in 15 matches and winning the Purple Cap at the end of the season. However, in 2023, he had a normal season with 14 wickets at an economy rate of 9.66 and was picked up by Punjab Kings in the 2024 auction.
