Glenn ‘max’ a million
Mumbai Indians’ Nita Ambani, IPL chief Rajeev Shukla, BCCI joint secretary Anurag Thakur and Delhi Daredevils coach T.A. Sekar a
While three-time World Cup winner Ricky Ponting and his sensational successor Michael Clarke were paid scant attention, India’s business tycoons threw in a surprise by engaging in a tug-of-war over an obscure Aussie. This is IPL auction and established names do not always sell!
While Kane Richardson, who recently made his ODI debut for Australia only as a last-minute replacement for injured Mitchell Starc, was bought by Pune Warriors for $700,000 — seven times his base price; his illustrious countrymen Ponting and Clarke had to settle for their base price of $400,000 after attracting just one bid each.
Ponting went almost unsold until owner of Mumbai Indians, Nita Ambani, raised her hand at the last minute and saved the veteran from embarrassment. Pune Warriors would be thanking their stars after having bought a potential captain in Clarke at a bargain price.
The lone millionaire of the day was emerging Aussie all-rounder Glen Maxwell, who went to Mumbai after a frenetic bidding with newcomers Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 24-year-old right-hander, who also bowls offspin, is no stranger to IPL as he has already played for the Delhi Daredevils, but did not make much impact. However, his recent form — scoring 145 in six innings at a strike rate of 152.63 in the Big Bash League — made him the hottest pick.
Mumbai’s chief mentor Anil Kumble said Maxwell was on top of their target list. “I knew Maxwell before he played for his country. He is an exceptional talent and it will be exciting to see him play,” said Kumble.
South African all-rounder Christopher Morris (Chennai Super Kings, $625,000) and Lankan mystery spinner Sachithra Senanayaka (Kolkata Knight Riders, $625,000) are the other surprise gainers.
It was a good payday for the Indians. Off the seven local players up for grabs, only the ageing Wasim Jaffer didn’t find a buyer. Abhishek Nayar, who is fresh from playing a key role in Mumbai’s landmark Ranji Trophy triumph, was the most sought-after Indian as almost all the teams showed interest in the all-rounder. He was eventually picked by Pune Warriors for $675,000 (base price $100,000).
Royal Challengers Bangalore strengthened their bowling department by adding Rudra Pratap Singh, Jaydeb Unadkat, Pankaj Singh and West Indian Ravi Rampaul.
Delhi bought only three players and all of them were all-rounders — Johan Botha, Jesse Ryder and Jeevan Mendis. Sunrisers too concentrated on utility players as they took Sri Lankan Thisara Perera and West Indian Darren Sammy among four others.
As Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior will not be available for full period of the tournament, the English, as expected, had no takers. Interestingly their names were brought back to the bag during the afternoon session upon some teams' request. They, however, went unsold.
In an effort to expedite the process, all the franchisees mutually agreed for a fast track mode after the lunch. The teams zeroed in on 20 players they wanted to be in the bag.
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