Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin feels he is in demand Auqib Nabi Even if he is acquired by any team in the IPL 2026 auction to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16, he may continue as a backup pacer.
Ashwin highlighted that teams will be after fast bowlers like Auqib. He also predicted that his former franchise CSK could bet on all-round options like Venkatesh Iyer and Liam Livingstone to strengthen their team.
“In this particular auction, fast bowlers will be in high demand. I would reiterate that Umesh Yadav may also get some bids. Because there is a lot of demand with very little supply. And the franchises have a lot of money. There will be demand for someone like Auqib Nabi but whether he will be selected and will play, I don't know. Even if CSK picks him, they will keep him as a backup bowler. CSK's first priority will be Venkatesh Iyer. In the second slot, now that he is out, it will be Livingstone,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
The former CSK title winner also spoke on the reasoning behind CSK's decision to let Sri Lankan Mathisha Pathirana go.
He said, “Releasing Pathirana was a very calculated decision by CSK. Most of the teams felt that Andre Russell would be in the auction even before the release. Keeping this in mind, CSK wanted to pick up Russell or Cameron Green. But they had no chance with Rs 30 crore, and hence, Mathisha Pathirana seemed like a very obvious release.”
Apart from Pathirana, Chennai Super KingsWho have a purse of Rs 43.40 crore, have released Rahul Tripathi, Vansh Bedi, C Andre Siddarth, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Sheikh Rashid and Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
In place of Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were traded by Rajasthan Royals. It will be interesting to see how the players in yellow choose their strategy in the auction. For the first time in IPL 2025, CSK remained at the bottom of the points table.
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