Aakash Chopra picks the likely 5 most expensive Indian bowlers at the IPL 2022 Auction; Shardul, Harshal, and Shami don't figure in the list

Harshal Patel was the Purple Cap winner in IPL 2021 [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra has made his picks for the five most expensive Indian bowlers at the upcoming IPL 2022 Auction. Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel and Mohammed Shami are some of the most prominent bowlers who have failed to make the list.

Indian pacers and spinners are likely to draw huge bucks at the upcoming mega auction. Some of the established names like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja have already been retained by their franchises.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Prasidh Krishna as the fifth most expensive bowler at the IPL 2022 Auction. He elaborated:

"At no.5, I have kept Prasidh Krishna's name because of two reasons. He is playing for India also now. He has two or three things that no one else has. Height - point of release is outstanding, he has got the pace and now has the experience of two to three years."

Avesh Khan won the cricketer-turned-commentator's vote as another young Indian pacer who is likely to strike gold at the auction. Aakash Chopra reasoned:

"At no.4, I have kept the player whose name has come just now in the team - Avesh Khan. His last year was phenomenal and the year prior to that was also good. He played ahead of Ishant and Umesh, bowls both with the new and old ball. His special thing is that the ball hits high on the bat and with speed."

Aakash Chopra believes Rahul Chahar will also be one of the hot picks at the IPL 2022 Auction. He explained:

"At no.3, I have kept Rahul Chahar. There are a lot of spinners but I have kept his name. Rahul Chahar is a proven customer, he has played for Mumbai on extremely small grounds. I think he has got a raw deal, was in the Indian World Cup team but was not selected after that."

While acknowledging that Ravichandran Ashwin is a four-over bank, Aakash Chopra opted to pick Chahar ahead of the wily off-spinner. He reasoned that Ashwin had not been amongst the wickets of late, with age also not being on his side.

Aakash Chopra's top 2 picks of the most expensive Indian bowlers at the IPL 2022 Auction

The Royal Challengers Bangalore did not retain Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of the IPL 2022 auction

Aakash Chopra picked Yuzvendra Chahal as the most expensive Indian spinner at the IPL 2022 Auction. He observed:

"At no.2, I have kept Yuzvendra Chahal. He is a gun bowler although his numbers might have gone down for the last little while. The second half of the last IPL was outstanding. He has pedigree, performance, potential - he is brilliant."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player named Deepak Chahar as the likely most expensive Indian bowler at the upcoming auction. Chopra explained:

"At no.1, I have kept Deepak Chahar. He is a wicket-taker with the new ball. You don't see any other Indian bowler like that, he is a bank in the first three overs, you break the back of the opponent. He is alright at the death but you can manage with him."

Toppers in #IPL2021 at each phase...

Batting
PP: 353 - Prithvi Shaw
Middle: 331 - Glenn Maxwell
Death: 206 - AB De Villiers

Bowling
PP: 10 - Deepak Chahar
Middle: 13 - Ravindra Jadeja/Yuzvendra Chahal
Death: 21 - Harshal Patel

#IPL
#IPL2O21

Aakash Chopra pointed out that almost every team, including the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will be interested in acquiring the swing bowler. He added that the 29-year-old's recent exploits with the bat will also go in his favor.