While the mega auction of the Indian Premier League is all set to take place soon, all the teams have already shared their lists of retention players. And, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) decided to retain Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj before the IPL 2022 auction, leaving out the players like Harshal Patel, Devdutt Padikkal and Yuzvendra Chahal.

However, recently, Harshal Patel, who recently made his international debut, has opened up why RCB didn’t retain him. “When I was not retained, Mike Hesson (RCB’s Director of Cricket) called me and said, that it was mainly purse management,” Harshal said.

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“They would obviously love to have me back in the team and I too would obviously would love to go back and play for the team because RCB and this season (2021) changed my entire career and my entire life. However, in terms of auction, I haven’t heard from any franchises yet,” he further added.

Harshal Patel was also opined on sharing the dressing room with the legends like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers at RCB. Responding to the question, the pace bowler has said that he has never been star-struck with their presence as well. However, he is expected to be on the radar of other franchises in the upcoming mega-auction. Notably, he has ended the 2021 season as the highest wicket-taker as well.

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“It’s pretty normal to be honest. I don’t get star-struck. Even I remember my first year in IPL, I was never star-struck. I just admire them for what they bring onto the field, the kind of people they are, the level of skill they have and their ability to stand up in pressure situation and say: ‘I am going to bring the team out of this difficult situation.’ That’s what I have learnt from those two guys,” he concluded.