On Yuzvendra Chahal's Shock RCB Release, Ex-Director Mike Hesson's Big Revelation

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson, has revealed the reason behind the franchise's decision to release Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, RCB retained three players -- Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammad Siraj. RCB's decision to release Chahal came as a big shock and the leg-spinner was eventually bought by Rajasthan Royals during the auctions. Hesson, who was with RCB at that time, recalled that he personally called Chahal to explain the reason behind his ouster from the franchise.

However, Hesson revealed that Chahal was "upset" and "disinterested" in the conversation.

"Yuzi was communicated with a huge amount. And I know that because I was the guy at the other end of the phone. I remember ringing Yuzi afterwards and he was upset. It was very difficult to try and explain the auction dynamics to him at that time. He was visibly disinterested, and I don't blame him. He was an RCBian and he was frustrated. But I can assure everyone that he is well-aware of the issues we were confronted with," Hesson told Cricket.com.

Since it was a mega auction, Chahal did not find a place in the marquee players list. His name popped up after 64 players went under the hammer.

Hesson revealed that they wanted to buy back Chahal and Harshal Patel at the auction, but with the auction being a mega one, things got a bit complicated.

While RCB did manage to buy back Harshal, Chahal eventually went to RR. As his replacement, RCB did manage to get their hands on Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranaga.

"I spoke to Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) obviously when we did the initial retention and we only retained three players because we felt we wanted