"Shardul Thakur was a steal for them" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's acquisitions at the IPL 2024 auction

Aakash Chopra feels the Chennai Super Kings' acquisition of Shardul Thakur at the IPL 2024 auction was a steal.

CSK bought Shardul for just ₹4 crore at the auction in Dubai on Tuesday. Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman and Avanish Rao Aravelly were the defending champions' other acquisitions.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Shardul was a great bargain buy for the Chennai Super Kings, considering that the Punjab Kings bought Harshal Patel for an exorbitant amount. He elaborated (5:10):

"They (CSK) surprised a little when they were going for Travis Head but picked Rachin Ravindra - well done. Shardul Thakur was a steal for them. Shardul Thakur for four crores whereas Harshal Patel went for 11.75 crores."

The former India opener reckons MS Dhoni and company are looking at Daryl Mitchell, who was bought for ₹14 crore, as an alternative to Moeen Ali. He said:

"They picked Daryl Mitchell in the middle. It seems like they are looking at him as an option for Moeen Ali. He is not like-for-like but even if you don't get Moeen's bowling, you get a middle-order batter who can hit very good strokes."

Chopra added that CSK can't be taken lightly and have become better than earlier. He claimed that they have most bases covered, especially considering they have also bolstered their seam-bowling department by acquiring Mustafizur Rahman.

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"It seemed like they would get stuck" - Aakash Chopra on RCB's acquisitions at the IPL 2024 auction

RCB were competing with SRH to acquire Pat Cummins' services. [P/C: Getty]

Turning his attention to the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Aakash Chopra highlighted that they were fortunate that the SunRisers Hyderabad outbid them to acquire Pat Cummins. He stated (6:00):

"Their job got done towards the end. It seemed like they would get stuck. They went after Pat (Cummins) and as soon as Hyderabad bought Pat, I said Bangalore should thank them, because they (RCB) shouldn't have picked him."

The renowned commentator added that RCB's inability to acquire Cummins allowed them to buy a few seamers. He observed:

"If you had bought him for 20-odd crores, how would you have made a team - you had 23-odd crores in total. They bought Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal and Tom Curran. So they have eventually assembled their fast-bowling gang."

Chopra reckons RCB are slightly light in the spin-bowling department, considering that Mayank Dagar and Karn Sharma are their primary options. On the flip side, he pointed out that they have a plethora of seam-bowling options, with the likes of Reece Topley, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Vyshak Vijaykumar in the mix.