Aakash Chopra believes the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) dodged a bullet when Pat Cummins got a high bid at the IPL 2024 auction. They couldn’t get him.
The Bangalore guys tried hard to get Cummins. SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) went against them in the bid. And in the end who got Cummins? SRH! They spent a whopping ₹20.50 crore on him.
Chopra questioned the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s willingness to spend a fortune on Cummins in a video posted to his YouTube account. He went on to say:
“They had totally made up their mind that they wanted Pat Cummins at any cost and they kept going after him, kept lifting the paddle. It went till 20 crores and I folded my hands and said – ‘think a little’. If you had got Pat Cummins for 20 crores and you had 23.25 crores, would Pat Cummins have bowled from both ends?”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener believes that if RCB had bought Cummins, they would have been significantly handicapped. He stated:
“If they had bought Pat Cummins, if SRH had pulled out at that stage, and they would have got him for 20 crores, their team would have become extremely weak. When you released so many players and if you had picked Pat Cummins on a small Chinnaswamy ground with a flat pitch, you would have been hit a lot.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra went on to say that RCB should be grateful to SRH for outbidding them on Cummins. He stated:
“So send Merry Christmas and Happy New Year cards to Hyderabad because they saved you. They just went all out and you got saved. It was very interesting that they wanted Pat Cummins but didn’t bid for Gerald Coetzee and Mitchell Starc.”
Aakash Chopra
RCB overlooked Gerald Coetzee and Mitchell Starc’s auction. Mumbai Indians snagged the South African right-arm bowler for a mere ₹5 crore, whereas the Aussie left-arm bowler set an IPL record with the Kolkata Knight Riders – a whopping ₹24.75 crore.
Aakash Chopra shares Harshal Patel’s feelings on RCB’s lack of faith
Aakash Chopra revealed that Harshal Patel was dissatisfied that he was not kept or re-acquired by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He stated:
“RCB released Triple H (Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel). Harshal was with us on JioCinema. Harshal told us he was thinking that maybe they would show a little more faith as he didn’t have one good season but had two very good seasons before that. However, they didn’t.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra further stated that the three-time finalist’s choice not to keep or re-acquire Harshal Patel was not disclosed to him. They did not make an offer for the right-arm seamer, who was purchased by the Punjab Kings for Rs. 11.75 crore.