I never thought RCB would pick me; it was surprising: Shahbaz Ahmed

India all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed revealed that he was hoping to go unsold in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction. He admitted that he never thought that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will sign him. Notably, he suffered from a shoulder injury during the IPL auction and did not want to cause any trouble in the IPL.

"I never thought RCB would pick me; it was surprising. To be honest, I had a shoulder injury at 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 will go waste," Ahmed said while speaking in the RCB podcast.

He went on to say that after going unsold in the first session of the auction, he felt delighted as he turned off the TV. However, after some time, he was told by his friends that he was roped in by RCB.

"My teammate Ishan Porel was picked by Punjab first. Next was my turn. In the 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 an end, my friends told me I was picked by RCB. Everyone was still seeing the auction in the dressing room, and everyone was happy,” Shahbaz added.

On the inside, though, I thought, 'oh no, how did this happen': Shahbaz Ahmed

Shahbaz further said that after being picked by RCB, his biggest fear was that he was picked by the IPL franchise that was captained by Virat Kohli. He also revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, he managed to undergo surgery and joined the training camp fully fit.

"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 to 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 shoulder surgery. When I joined the team for the first training camp, I was fit," the all-rounder further said.

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