Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has backed Gujarat Titans to go after former Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal in the IPL 2023 auction. He feels that the team might be interested in him as they need a solid Indian batter in the top 4 and the batter can even earn 8-10 crore in the auction.
“Gujarat Titans might be interested in him,” Aakash Chopra on Mayank Agarwal
Things are not well for Mayank Agarwal at the moment. His bizarre form of late was one of the reasons behind him. getting dropped from the Indian setup. If this was not enough, he then was sacked as the skipper of the Punjab Kings and also was released by the franchise.
Agarwal led Punjab Kings in the IPL 2022 and did a decent job as a skipper as they performed well in phases and ended 6th on the points table. He wasn’t in the greatest form in that season and he also demoted himself to the middle order.
The Karnataka batter now has registered for the IPL 2023 auction, which is slated to take place in Kochi on 23rd December. The right-hander has set himself a base price of INR 1 crore. Although Agarwal has been performing poorly in domestic circuits, it is expected that he’ll be back to his best ahead of the next edition of the tournament.
Well that’s going to change tomorrow for sure.
– Sam Curran?
– Ben Stokes?
– Cameron Green?
– Mayank Agarwal? https://t.co/Hdrdsng7Yr— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) December 22, 2022
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With the kind of talent and experience he has, it is expected that many teams are likely to bid for him in the auction. However, Chopra feels that defending champions might be interested in him. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he said:
“I have kept Mayank Agarwal in fifth place on this list. The only thing that could go against him is that most teams don’t want an opener or a top-order batter. Gujarat Titans might be interested in him. They do have Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, but if they get Agarwal to open with Gill, then wow.”
“I expect Mayank to go for 8-10 crore in the auction,” says Aakash Chopra
Chopra further added that Sunrisers Hyderabad might also look to buy Mayank Agarwal as they need a quality batter in the team. He said that he expects batter to go for 8-10 crore in the auction.”
“Sunrisers once again will be in contention due to the massive purse that they have. I don’t see any quality batters there apart from Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram. They already have the bowling so they need to stack up their batting. Unless there’s a case where no bidding war happens, I expect Mayank to go for 8-10 crore in the auction.”
Mayank Agarwal is currently playing Ranji Trophy for Karnataka. He would be looking to score some runs and get his form back.
