Royal Challengers Bangalore have consistently built a squad brimming with superstars with Virat Kohli being the centerpiece. Some of the biggest names in history of cricket including Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kevin Pietersen among others have turned out for the franchise but their hunt for a first IPL title continues.
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Ahead of the IPL mega auctions, all eight teams were asked to release their entire pool barring four retentions which they were to announce well in advance. This was done in order to give a fair chance to the new IPL teams in Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants to build a squad.
Like others, RCB also went through the rebuilding process and in a surprising turn of events, retained just three players including Kohli, Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj.
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It was baffling to comprehend why a legspinner of Yuvendra Chahal’s pedigree who served them quite admirably over the years was released for the auction.
No surprise Rajasthan Royals splashed a whopping Rs 6.5 crore to rope him in their setup and the star performer has delivered for the franchise having helped them to the final in his first season with them.
Chahal continues to put up impressive performances in IPL 2023 as well and it prompted Pietersen to take a shot at RCB by calling their decision to release Chahal in the auction pool as ‘one of the greatest gifts’ in IPL history.
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“One of the greatest gifts in the history of the IPL is Chahal to Rajasthan Royals. Absolutely no idea how Bangalore let him go. Always took the wickets, he was the bloke who kept them in the game. Unbelievable that this bloke is now wearing pink. With the ball he was the most valuable asset for RCB," Pietersen said while on air for for Star Sports during the RR’s home game against Lucknow Super Giants.
Chahal had last year opened up on why RCB let go of him, clearing the air on whether he had asked for a fatter paycheck which prompted the decision.
“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 (Kohli, Maxwell and Siraj) 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 Times of India.
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