Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finished third in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. Even though RCB had a decent season, many of their top stars did not perform on a consistent basis. Recently, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra reviewed RCB’s performance in IPL 2022 on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra is of the opinion that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) should consider releasing Siraj at the IPL 2023 auction. It is worth noting that, Siraj was retained by RCB for Rs 7 crore ahead of the mega auction earlier this year. Chopra believes that RCB can buy the lanky pacer back at a cheaper price.
“Mohammed Siraj was retained for seven crores. You may release him. If you release him, whom will you get, that’s a big question because you will have to get an Indian bowler. You can buy him back cheaper actually, he will not be sold for seven crores now,” Chopra was quoted as saying.
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“You have an overseas bowler in the form of Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel has done very well, Akash Deep was not too bad at the start as well. You wanted to hold on to him (Siraj), I thought that was a great idea but the season has not been good”, Chopra added.
Among all the prominent players of RCB, Mohammed Siraj had the worst IPL season. The 28-year-old took just nine wickets in 15 games at an expensive economy rate of 10.07. Siraj now also has the ignominious record of being smashed for most sixes (31) any bowler has been hit for in the history of IPL.
Aakash Chopra opined that RCB could also release Anuj Rawat, as the franchise already had a settled opening pair.
Aakash Chopra said, “Anuj Rawat, you spent 3.4 crores on him. He played one good innings and after that, you didn’t play him. If Anuj Rawat is not going to open, Faf and Kohli are going to open, then you can release 3.4 crores by releasing Anuj Rawat. That’s 10-and-a-half crores already.”
The popular commentator also said that RCB could let go of Sherfane Rutherford and David Willey as they couldn’t be utilised properly. Rutherford and Willey were sidelined by RCB, once Glenn Maxwell and Hazlewood were available for selection.
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