'I have full sympathy for Umesh Yadav' - Aakash Chopra believes pacer could have been bought in IPL 2025 auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction witnessed many players being sold at high prices. However, there were also some players who, despite being one of the most experienced players in the franchise league, did not attract any bidders at all.

The mega auction saw a few fast bowlers going for big bucks such as Arshdeep Singh (INR 18 crore) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (INR 10.75 crore). However, there were other veteran pacers who still went unsold in the auction. One of them is the 37-year-old Vidarbha fast bowler Umesh Yadav who played for the Gujarat Titans last season. The fact that Umesh did not get any bidders upset former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra who thought that he at least should have been bought at his base price. 

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“No one spoke to Umesh Yadav and he wasn't selected. He is probably feeling sad because all of them play with him, they are captains of different teams, and someone could have spoken to him. I definitely feel the pain because it hurts when you have played cricket for a long time and you think you have given a lot to cricket," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

“He is not saying that he should have been bought for 15 crores, but someone should have bought him for 1-1.5 crores at least. It's not that his sell-by date has passed. So, I have full sympathy for Umesh Yadav in my heart that no one picked him and no one even spoke to him. Open the communication channels," Chopra added. 

Speaking of Umesh Yadav’s performance in the IPL, he has represented four franchises so far and has played 148 matches, taking 144 wickets at an average of 29.97 with an economy rate of 8.49. In the last season, he took eight wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 10.00 and an average of 26.25.