The Royal Challengers Bangalore are one of the few franchises yet to win the Indian Premier League title, and they would aim at changing that when they begin their 2023 campaign against Mumbai Indians on April 2. The Faf du Plessis-led side had reached the playoffs in the previous edition of the tournament, where it faced a defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in the eliminator match. This year, RCB are further bolstered with the addition of Reece Topley; however, their other overseas buy Will Jacks was forced to withdraw from the season with an injury. The RCB confirmed that Michael Bracewell of New Zealand will replace the English batter in the squad.
Over the past few years, RCB have had many standout performers in their side; one of the players who made it into Team India on the back of impressive outing for the side is Shahbaz Ahmed, the 28-year-old bowling all-rounder. He has represented the RCB in 29 matches so far and made his India debut last year in an ODI against South Africa.
However, over three years after being picked by RCB in the auction, Ahmed revealed that he, in fact, didn't want to be picked at all in the 2020 season of the tournament! Shahbaz stated that he had a shoulder injury and didn't want to be a part of the franchise in that season.
“I never thought RCB would pick me, it was surprising. To be honest, I had a shoulder injury that time. Every cricketer wants to play in IPL, and I was having a good domestic season then. The people from the association had said that I had a chance in the auction, but I never thought RCB would buy me. In fact, I was thinking it would be better if I go unsold because I didn't want any problems to resurface in the IPL. If I'm not fit, the season would go waste,” Ahmed said on the RCB Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}“I never thought RCB would pick me, it was surprising. To be honest, I had a shoulder injury that time. Every cricketer wants to play in IPL, and I was having a good domestic season then. The people from the association had said that I had a chance in the auction, but I never thought RCB would buy me. In fact, I was thinking it would be better if I go unsold because I didn't want any problems to resurface in the IPL. If I'm not fit, the season would go waste,” Ahmed said on the RCB Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}Shahbaz, then, went on to reveal his emotions during the auction day in 2020.
“My teammate Ishan Porel was picked by Punjab first. Next was my turn. In first attempt, I had gone unsold and I was so happy. I switched off the TV and I felt relieved. But as the auction was coming to end, my friends told me I was picked by RCB. Everyone was still seeing the auction in the dressing room, and everyone was happy,” said Shahbaz.
“On the inside, though, I thought, ‘oh no, how did this happen’. My biggest fear was I was picked by RCB and Virat bhai was also the Team India captain at the time. I thought, ‘what will happen with me now'. I was having trouble with fielding and Virat bhai is very particular about fielding.
"But Covid was the game-changer for me. In lockdown, I got time to have a shoulder surgery. When I joined the team for the first training camp, I was fit," the all-rounder stated.