IPL 2022 Mega Auctions: RCB have kept 20 crores for Shreyas Iyer, claims Aakash Chopra

The IPL 2022 Mega Auction is not too far now. With only 10 days for the mega event, teams have started planning and strategizing. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are one team that have often got things wrong at auctions. Releasing players like Chris Gayle and KL Rahul are counted among major mistakes made by the Karnataka-based franchise. However, in the past two auctions, the RCB team management has started to get things together.

Bidding for Glenn Maxwell in the 2021 auctions proved worthy for them as the Australian all-rounder finished the season on a high. They have also retained Maxwell for a whopping 11 crores. The other two retainees in RCB’s list are Virat Kohli (15 Cr) and Mohammad Siraj (7 Cr). After the three retentions, they are left with 57 crores with them to carry into the mega auctions. The RCB team management will not want to repeat mistakes from the past and try to spend the money wisely to build a good core team that can win them their maiden title.

After Virat Kohli has relieved himself from captaincy duties, the Red Army is searching for an equally able leader, and if reports are to be believed, Shreyas Iyer is on their radar. But how far will they go to get Iyer? Well, as per Aakash Chopra, RCB may even spend 20 crores to get Iyer. In his recent video, Chopra has claimed that he has information that RCB is willing to spend as much as 20 crores for Iyer.

While talking about the players in the marquee list, Chopra pointed out that since Ishan Kishan is not there on the list, Iyer will get high bids, up to 15-16 Cr. “Now as Ishan Kishan has been left out, it means money will be saved for Ishan Kishan and high bids will be placed on Shreyas Iyer. It could be 15-16 crores as well, someone told me that RCB has kept 20 crores for Shreyas Iyer,” said Chopra.

Will it be wise for RCB to spend 20 crores on one player?

Although RCB are desperate for a captain around whom they can build a team for the future, spending 20 crores on one player doesn’t sound like a wise idea. But Chopra may be right to an extent as RCB management has a reputation of spending large amounts on a single player (Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris). Plus, they have a purse amount of 57 crores, so maybe Iyer gets lucky and bags INR 2 million in the mega auctions.