Yuzvendra Chahal poised to reunite with former franchise in IPL Auction as speculation grows: 'Concerns over overdependence on...'

Former India opener Aakash Chopra is confident that Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, will make a strong bid for Yuzvendra Chahal in the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction. Chahal, who holds the record for the most wickets in IPL history with 205 scalps, was surprisingly released by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the auction despite his impressive track record. During his first season at Rajasthan in 2022, Chahal showcased his prowess by claiming 27 wickets in 17 matches. The leg-spinner had commenced his IPL journey with Mumbai Indians back in 2011 before eventually moving to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2014. Chahal quickly became a fan favorite during his stint at M Chinnaswamy Stadium until 2021, establishing himself as one of the premier spinners in the league.

Meanwhile, MI retained their Indian core after resolving the internal issues in the franchise which let them down last season. They managed to keep Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma, ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The five-time champions retained a talented roster at a total cost of INR 75 crore, leaving INR 45 crore available to strengthen their squad at the auction.

Chopra suggested that MI have already done a good job in retaining four talented Indian bowlers. But he pointed out that bowling, which was their weak link last season, remains the same after retention, as they have only Bumrah with a four-over bank at the moment.

"Their batting has become strong once again. The problem is that they have only one bowler, who is a four-over bank, but you need more bowlers. Bowling let them down last time as well. They used to score runs, 225 to 250, but used to concede that many as well," Aakash said on his YouTube channel.

The former India opener asserted that MI will go after Chahal in the IPL auction, but it won't be easy for them to sign him, and also named Washington Sundar as the backup choice to go after.

"So they had so much overdependence on the batting to fire and scoring 20-40 runs above par every time is a bit too much. They might have an entire Indian batting lineup and an overseas bowling lineup, with a couple of Indian spinners. They will definitely go after Yuzi Chahal. I don't know whether they will get him or not. They might want to keep Washington Sundar," Chopra added.