IPL 2018: Virender Sehwag says RCB would be foolish to let Yuzvendra Chahal join another team

IPL 2018: Virender Sehwag says RCB would be foolish to let Yuzvendra Chahal join another team

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Virender Sehwag has pinpointed the importance of Yuzvendra Chahal to the RCB team and recommended that the franchise should exercise their RTM to hold on to the spinner. Sehwag however, suggested that Windies power-hitter Chris Gayle is past his prime and should be left out of the 2018 RCB squad.

Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to retain uncapped Sarfaraz Khan and South African big-hitter AB De Villiers along with Indian skipper and club captain Virat Kohli in the retention ceremony on January 4. After saving a bit by retaining the uncapped Khan, RCB will go into the upcoming auctions with a kitty of 49 crores to spend.

As per the rules laid down by the IPL GC, any franchise can hold onto five of their players, by virtue of a combination of Player Retention (Pre Player Auction) and Right to Match (RTM) during the Player Auction. If a franchise uses three retentions (pre-auction), then they will have two RTM during the auction.

With RCB having only 2 RTM’s left, it will be interesting to see whom they choose to use the cards on and who will be let go from their squad. With stars like Chris Gayle, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kl Rahul, and Kedar Jadhav part of their 2017 squad, it will be tough to narrow it down to just 2 players.

Virender Sehwag, however, was of the opinion that come what may, the RCB franchise need to hold on to off-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal or they risk the chance to lose him to a rival franchise.

“I don’t know at what price he (Chahal) will go but RCB will definitely use RTM for him. If they don’t, then they will be stupid,” Sehwag said in an interview with Sportskeeda.

RCB bought Chahal at his base price of Rs. 10 lakhs in the 2014 edition and he grabbed this opportunity very well, bagging 70 wickets in just four seasons. It was his IPL performances that brought him onto the radar of the Indian selectors who spotted his talent and rewarded him with an international call-up. So far, he has been quite successful in international cricket, scalping 22 wickets in 13 T20Is at an economy of just 7.31.

On the other hand, the veteran Indian opener, was slightly skeptical over the choice of retaining Chris Gayle in this edition of the IPL as he said, “Gayle is now getting old. He is not the same Gayle that he once was. Last year, he played in the IPL and his performance wasn’t at that level that he was once renowned for. Teams take into account this factor when they enter the auction. Maybe RCB might go after Gayle again at the auction.” 

With the highly anticipated auctions set to take place on 27 and 28 January, only time will tell what the RCB squad will look like for the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League.

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