"Would Pat Cummins Bowl From Both Ends...": Ex-India Star's Cheeky Jibe At RCB's Crazy Rs 20 Crore Plus Bid

Former India batter Aakash Chopra has questioned Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) over their attempt to buy Australia captain Pat Cummins at the IPL Players Auction earlier this week. RCB were involved in a bidding war with the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to acquire Cummins' services. The 2016 champions eventually acquired Cummins' services for Rs 20.5 crore, outbidding RCB in the process. Notably, RCB had entered the auction with a purse of just Rs 23.25, having traded Cameron Green from Mumbai Indians for a hefty sum.

Chopra believes RCB were lucky that they couldn't purchase Cummins, who became the second most expensive buy in the auction history.

"They had totally made up their mind that they wanted Pat Cummins at any cost and they kept going after him, kept lifting the paddle. It went till 20 crores and I folded my hands and said - 'think a little'. If you had got Pat Cummins for 20 crores and you had 23.25 crores, would Pat Cummins have bowled from both ends?" Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

The cricketer-turned-commentator said that RCB's squad would've been considerably weakened had they signed Cummins for a hefty sum.

"If they had bought Pat Cummins, if SRH had pulled out at that stage, and they would have got him for 20 crores, their team would have become extremely weak. When you released so many players and if you had picked Pat Cummins on a small Chinnaswamy ground with a flat pitch, you would have been hit a lot," he added.

Chopra also took a cheeky dig at RCB, saying that the franchise should thank SRH by sending them Christmas and New Year cards.

"So send Merry Christmas and Happy New Year cards to Hyderabad because they saved you. They just went all out and you got saved. It was very interesting that they wanted Pat Cummins but didn't bid for Gerald Coetzee and Mitchell Starc," the former India batter concluded.

Meanwhile, RCB roped in six players -- Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan -- during the auction.