'He was...': Mike Hesson makes BOMBSHELL revelation about how Yuzvendra Chahal reacted to RCB axe

The Indian Premier League 2022 auction saw a significant shift in the player roster. In a startling move, Royal Challengers Bangalore included Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel in the auction pool. While RCB paid a whopping Rs 10.75 crore to re-sign Harshal, they did not bid on Chahal once.

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What Yuzvendra Chahal said after not being retained by RCB

Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and the SunRisers Hyderabad engaged in a bidding battle for the player, and Rajasthan emerged victorious, paying Rs 6.5 crore for the spinner. Chahal, who was heartbroken at the time, admits to being hurt that RCB let him leave.

"As part of the RCB franchise for eight long years, I am still unsure why I was dropped from the team. I was never informed about this decision after the IPL auction, which deeply saddened me," Chahal had said on the Beer Biceps podcast.

“No one even spoke to me. I think I played around 114 games for them. I couldn't understand what happened suddenly,” Chahal had further added.

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Mike Hesson reveals how Chahal reacted to axe from RCB

Mike Hesson, the former director of cricket for Royal Challengers Bangalore, spoke up about the incident and felt that Chahal had every reason to be angry with the organization. Speaking to cricket.com, Hesson revealed that he spoke with Chahal following the sale but was unable to explain the auction dynamics.

“I remember ringing Yuzi afterwards and he was upset. It was very difficult to try and explain to him the auction dynamics at that time. He was visibly disinterested, and I don’t blame him. He was an RCBian and he was frustrated. But I can assure everyone that he is well aware of the issues we were confronted with,” Hesson said on cricket.com.

The former RCB player claimed that the squad was unable to buy back Chahal owing to Chahal's position in the auction. Hesson stated that Chahal could not have been purchased because the spinner was not on the marquee players list. And in 'Set Six' of the auction, the franchise lacked sufficient funds on the back end.

“We only retained three players because we wanted to buy back both Harshal Patel and Yuzi at the auction. By only retaining three players, it gave us an extra four crore to do that,” Hesson said, speaking on the show.

“Probably the thing that I’m frustrated about even now is the fact that he couldn’t make the top two marquee lists despite being one of the best ever in the IPL. That was ridiculous. And the fact that he came in at No.65 in the auction list (sic) meant that it was really difficult for us to guarantee that we will get him," Hesson added.

“But yes, we spent hours and hours at the mock auction debating how we could potentially buy Yuzi,” concluded Hesson.