"Someone should have bought him for 1-1.5 crores at least" - Aakash Chopra on Umesh Yadav expressing shock about going unsold at the IPL 2025 auction

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Umesh Yadav might be sad about not finding any takers at the IPL 2025 auction. He reckoned that the veteran India pacer should have been bought at least for his base amount, if not for an exorbitant price.

Yadav went unsold at the auction last year. The Vidarbha pacer recently acknowledged that he felt bad and was shocked when no one bid for him despite his vast experience.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that Yadav should have been purchased at least for a nominal price at the auction.

"No one spoke to Umesh Yadav and he wasn't selected. He is probably feeling sad because all of them play with him, they are captains of different teams, and someone could have spoken to him. I definitely feel the pain because it hurts when you have played cricket for a long time and you think you have given a lot to cricket," he said (7:15).

"He is not saying that he should have been bought for 15 crores, but someone should have bought him for 1-1.5 crores at least. It's not that his sell-by date has passed. So I have full sympathy for Umesh Yadav in my heart that no one picked him and no one even spoke to him. Open the communication channels," Chopra added.

Yadav was released by the Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. He kept his base price at ₹2 crore and did not attract any bids at the auction.

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"It's interesting when you see that even in this auction Indian fast bowlers got a lot of money" - Aakash Chopra on no one bidding for Umesh Yadav

Arshdeep Singh (₹18 crore) was the most expensive seamer at the IPL 2025 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Indian seamers were in great demand at the IPL 2025 auction.

"It's interesting when you see that even in this auction Indian fast bowlers got a lot of money, whether you see Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akash Deep or Avesh Khan," he said.

The cricketer-turned-analyst expressed surprise about Umesh Yadav going unsold in such a scenario.

"Deepak Chahar was very expensive. Fast bowlers have had a good time. In fact, when Khaleel Ahmed went for close to ₹5 crore, I said it was a steal. They got him so cheap. A lot of money was spent on all fast bowlers but no one even bid for Umesh Yadav. That was a little surprising," Chopra observed.

Yadav has picked up 144 wickets at an economy rate of 8.45 in 148 IPL matches. He did not have a good run in IPL 2024, conceding an average of 10 runs per over for his eight wickets in seven games.