‘They will not be…’ – Aakash Chopra opens up on Bangalore going all out for Sam Curran in mini-auction

The Indian T20 League mini-auction for the 2023 edition is fast approaching and the teams are all set to give it a shot at their target players, given that there are very less slots to fill and over 400 players to pick from. In what can be called a highly competitive auction, the franchises would look to rope in their desired players and strike the right balance. 

Out of all the franchises, the most balanced one is the Bangalore team and they would look to fill in their slots, with the money purse being the only concern for the team. With only INR 8 crores in the bank, the Bangalore team will have very less to work on and the margin looks far lesser when compared to the other franchises. 

Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, hinted at Bangalore’s possible strategies and said that the team will not have the English allrounder Sam Curran on the list of players to go all out for in the approaching auction, set to take place on December 23, in Kochi. 

They will not even think about Sam Curran: Aakash Chopra

Chopra further said that it would be ideal for the Virat Kohli-led team to go for a player who could contribute with the ball, given that there will be matches played at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore this time around. Further, the former cricketer requested the team to go for a steal as they have a very small margin when it comes to the purse. 

“There will be matches in Chinnaswamy as well this time, the simple meaning of that is – make your bowling side slightly more heavy, buy someone who you can get cheap. They might want to go towards left-armers. They will not even think about Sam Curran, nor will they be able to afford him,” Chopra was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel. 

“It can be Reece Topley, Madushanka or Joshua Little. They might need a backup for Josh Hazlewood as well because this is the Ashes year. Some people might run away in between this year. It can be Paul van Meekeren as well. This team might look towards associate nations,” he added.