The mega auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League will take place on February 12-13 and over a thousand players have registered to take part in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
The 2022 season will see two franchises – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – making their maiden appearance in the tournament, which adds to an already charged-up competition for players in the mega auction.
Despite this, however, former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that David Warner – one of the IPL’s highest-scoring players – might not be the hottest pick when his name goes under the hammer.
Warner was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after the 2021 edition, following a dismal outing in his final season where he not only lost his captaincy, but also disappointed with the bat. He scored 195 runs in eight IPL matches in 2021 and was dropped from the XI during the final phase of the group stage.
Talking about his overseas auction picks among openers, Chopra said that while Warner “will be in demand,” he has lost a certain amount of goodwill.
“The first name that comes to mind is David Warner. Warner will be expensive, he will be in demand. But I’ve heard that Lucknow (Lucknow Super Giants) were not even keen on him. We thought he would open with Rahul.
Hyderabad let him go. I don’t think Chennai will even think about Warner. I’m not 100 percent certain that Mumbai will consider him,” Chopra said on his official YouTube channel.
“I’m not saying he won’t be expensive. People will go after him. It could be Delhi, Punjab, or Ahmedabad for all we know. But I think his goodwill has taken a hit.
He has scored a lot of runs, he’s a good player. But I don’t think anyone will look at him as a captain. As opener, he might fetch money but will he go for ₹15-16-17 crores? I don’t think so.”
Warner has played in 150 IPL matches, scoring 5,449 runs so far. The Australian is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer in the league’s history.
