"They just dodged a bullet" - Aakash Chopra on Kolkata Knight Riders trying to buy Nicholas Pooran at the IPL 2022 Auction
Aakash Chopra has said that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were fortunate not to spend a fortune on Nicholas Pooran on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 Auction.
KKR were involved in a bidding war with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to acquire the services of Pooran. The IPL 2016 champions eventually clinched the deal by bidding a whopping Rs 10.75 crore for the West Indies wicketkeeper-batter.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted that two-time champions KKR got out of jail by losing the Pooran bid. He reasoned:
"The Kolkata Knight Riders - they just dodged a bullet. There was a time when their auction was on make or break. Nicholas Pooran - they had 20 crores left and were spending 10.5 crores on him. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bid more than that and bought him, else their auction would have gone bad."
The former KKR player added that the franchise would have found it difficult to assemble a squad if they had dished out an exorbitant amount for Pooran. Chopra explained:
"They would have bought Nicholas Pooran as the eighth player and then they would have been left with 10 crores and would have had to buy 10 players. Thank god that did not happen."
Shreyas Iyer (Rs 12.25 crore), Nitish Rana (Rs 8 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs 7.25 crore) and Shivam Mavi (Rs 7.25 crore) were KKR's big-ticket buys on Day 1 of the mega auction.
"They actually don't go for small buys" - Aakash Chopra on the Kolkata Knight Riders' picks
Aakash Chopra also highlighted KKR's penchant to go for expensive deals. He elaborated:
"The Kolkata Knight Riders have Rs 12.65 crores left. They have bought Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins for a huge amount. They spent a lot of money on Nitish Rana. They actually don't go for small buys, only the big ones."
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The reputed commentator concluded by pointing out the shortcomings in the current KKR squad, observing:
"They still have a lot of work to do. You just have Sheldon Jackson as a keeper, who might not play regularly in your XI. If you see fast bowling, you don't consider Andre Russell a gun fast bowler; there remains a doubt on Pat Cummins' availability. You don't have any Indian fast bowler other than Mavi as of now."
However, Chopra acknowledged that a plethora of fast bowlers, including Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma are still to come in the auction.