'RCB will just...', Aakash Chopra makes BOLD statement on Virat Kohli's team ahead of IPL 2023 mini auction

IPL 2023 Auction: As the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction is set to take place in Kochi on Friday (December 23), former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra feels that three teams Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will not getting serious business during the IPL 2023 auction. With RCB (Rs 8.75 crore), RR (Rs 13.2 crore) and KKR (Rs 7.05 crore), many can agree to Chopra's prediction ahead the mini-auction.

"RCB, RR and KKR don't have to do much shopping. They will just do a bit of window shopping and even if they wish to buy someone, they can't because they just don't have the budget," said Aakash on Youtube channel.

Talking about RCB, they already have a couple of stars from last season like Mahipal Lomror, Rajat Patidar and Shahbaz Ahmed, who also did well in the IPL 2022 edition.

Coming to the other teams and players, Chopra feels that premier all-rounders like Cameron Green, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran will be on priority list of many franchises. Also, there will be a few uncapped all-rounders who will attract the teams with low budget.

RCB Director Mike Hesson targets Impact Players in IPL mini-auction. Says "looking for players to use in impact player rule". #IPL2023Auction — Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) December 22, 2022

RCB retained players: Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Akash Deep, Anuj Rawat, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Suyash Prabhudessai, David Willey, Faf Du Plessis, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga.

RR retained players: Sanju Samson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, K.C Cariappa, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Obed Mccoy, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult.

KKR retained players (with trades): Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee.