Chennai Super Kings went for everyone

Aakash Chopra has expressed surprise about Shardul Thakur going unsold at the IPL 2025 auction. He pointed out that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) tried to reacquire most of their former pacers but didn’t bid for the seam-bowling all-rounder.

Thakur was available for a base price of ₹2 crore at the auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25. However, the Palghar Express, as he is fondly called, wasn’t picked by any of the franchises.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India opener showed his bewilderment about Thakur not finding any takers despite his name coming in the auction twice.

“Lord Thakur’s name didn’t come. Shardul Thakur’s name not coming was a big surprise for me. Cricketing or non-cricketing reasons, what can it be? His name came, not once but twice, but no one lifted the paddle. Chennai Super Kings went for everyone. They bid for all the fast bowlers who were with them,” he said (12:35).

Chopra recalled Thakur being one of the heroes in India’s series-clinching win in Brisbane during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“He neither went to them nor anyone else. The BGT (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) is being played at the moment and I remembered that he won us the Gabba match in the last BGT. After that, he earned ₹10 crore, but nobody found him worthy for even ₹2 crore. I was slightly heartbroken for Shardul Thakur,” Chopra observed.

Thakur picked up five wickets at an economy rate of 9.75 in nine innings in IPL 2024. He scored 21 runs in three innings, remaining unbeaten twice, with the Impact Player rule potentially denying him more opportunities with the bat.

“I was genuinely surprised for Mayank Agarwal because he was available for ₹1 crore” – Aakash Chopra on opener going unsold in IPL 2025 auction

In the same video, Aakash Chopra also expressed surprise about Mayank Agarwal going unsold.

“There were three other big players who have previously been captains – Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Mayank Agarwal. They weren’t bought. I was genuinely surprised for Mayank Agarwal because he was available for ₹1 crore. He wasn’t too expensive. He is a good player,” he said (13:25).

While highlighting that Agarwal is still performing well in domestic cricket, the renowned commentator added that Kane Williamson and Steve Smith being ignored implies that Virat Kohli will be the only Fab Four member plying his trade in IPL 2025.

“He is playing first-class cricket and is scoring runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is scoring runs everywhere but no one bought him. Sometimes you feel it’s a cruel world. It’s not a statement for his cricket or as a player. The same thing happened with Kane Williamson and Steve Smith. Only one player among the Fab Four is part of this IPL, that’s Virat Kohli of course,” Chopra observed.

Chopra concluded by saying he wasn’t surprised that James Anderson’s name didn’t come in the auction. He noted that Anderson being picked when the likes of Naveen-ul-Haq and Mujeeb Ur Rahman went unsold would have been wrong.