IPL 2022 Auction: Predicting the final price a franchise may pay for Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal is expected to be one of the more sought-after spinners in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction.

The IPL 2022 auction is set for February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.

Chahal is among the 590 players who will go under the hammer.

The leg-spinner had eight fruitful seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but was not retained ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.

They opted to retain Virat Kohli for ₹15 crore, Glenn Maxwell for ₹11 crore and Mohammed Siraj for ₹7 crore, and will have a budget of ₹57 crore in the auction.

Chahal has been one of RCB's best players over the years, picking wickets consistently at the difficult Chinnaswamy Stadium

Given the freedom to bowl without having to worry about getting hit, Chahal has delivered key breakthroughs for RCB on several occasions.

He has picked 139 wickets in 113 matches for RCB in eight years. His economy rate in the league is 7.59.

Yuzvendra Chahal IPL auction history

Yuzvendra Chahal was snapped up by RCB for his base price of ₹10 lakh ahead of IPL 2014. His value remained the same until the IPL 2018 auction.

Delhi Capitals won the bid for him at ₹6 crore in the auction, but RCB opted to use their Right to Match card to retain his services.

He was retained for ₹6 crore by RCB from 2019-2021

Teams likely to target Chahal

Lucknow Super Giants picked Rashid Khan, while the new Ahmedabad franchise opted for Ravi Bishnoi as one of their draft picks. So they are unlikely to be interested in Yuzvendra Chahal.

But apart from that, most other franchises are going to be interested in the leggie. RCB will of course want to get him back, but Delhi Capitals are another team likely to have serious interest in him.

They almost got him in 2018 and would want to make another attempt this year to pair him up with Axar Patel.

His former team Mumbai Indians may go for him as well. Captain Rohit Sharma has a good rapport with Chahal and have been a vocal admirer of his skills. MI let go of Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya -- their two main spinners over the last few years.

Will Yuzvendra Chahal break the ₹10 crore barrier?

Leg-spinners are always going to be in high demand in T20 cricket, as they are often the prime wicket-takers for teams. Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the wiliest operators there is in the IPL and hence he is likely to be a famous pick at the auction.

For India, Chahal has 64 scalps in 50 T20I matches and was the first from the country to take a 6-wicket haul in the shortest format.

He had a dip in form in the first half of IPL 2021, but returned all guns blazing in the second half to finish with 18 scalps in the season. He helped RCB qualify for the knockouts last year.

Since returning to the Indian team, he has also shown that he can add extra gears to his game.

In the first ODI against the West Indies, Chahal bowled brilliantly to take four wickets and win the player of the match award.

Given the rise in his stock since the last mega-auction, Chahal could end up touching the ₹10 crore mark, but that would probably be the ceiling for him.

Prediction: Yuzvendra Chahal will be sold to RCB for ₹8 crore