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Journalism of Courage
IPL Auction 2020 witnessed Australian cricketers fetch big money with pacer Pat Cummins becoming the most expensive foreign buy ever after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured his services for Rs 15.50 crore on Thursday.
“Can’t wait,” tweeted Cummins after KKR head coach Brendon McCullum posted a welcome message for him on the micro-blogging site. “I am very happy to be back in KKR,” he later said in a video released by KKR.
Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were engaged in an intense bidding war for the Australian before KKR joined the battle at Rs 15 crore and eventually outbid the two franchises. Cummins has taken 32 wickets in 25 IPL matches so far with an economy of just over 6.
He is also the No.1 bowler in ICC Test rankings and has 92 wickets in 77 career T20 matches at an economy of little above 7.
Fellow Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell also made a return to Kings XI Punjab with a price tag of Rs 10.75 crore after an intense bidding war with Delhi Capitals. One reason why the Punjab franchise could go all out for Maxwell was because they went into the auction with the biggest available purse of Rs 42.70 crore.
31-year-old Maxwell took a sudden break to deal with mental health issues earlier this year but is now raring to comeback. With the T20 World Cup in the horizon, the IPL offers the perfect platform for a return.
Another Australian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, also earned big bucks as Mumbai Indians shelled out Rs 8 crore for the pacer.
Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch went for Rs 4.40 crore to Royal Challengers Bangalore. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 4.8 crore while pacer Kane Richardson went home richer by Rs 4 crore after being bought by RCB.
Chris Lynn, who was released by KKR ahead of the auction, was bought for his base price of Rs 2 crore by defending champions Mumbai Indians.
Another big buy at the auction was South African Chris Morris, who was sold for Rs 10 crore to Royal Challengers Bangalore. West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell, with a base price of Rs 50 lakh, fetched a winning bid of Rs 8.50 crore from Kings XI Punjab.
“I am looking forward to playing for Kings XI,” said Cottrell in a video released by the franchise.
Another Caribbean star, Shimron Hetmyer, was expectedly a sought-after entity for his big-hitting abilities and went to Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.75 crore. The left-hander had a base price of Rs 50 lakh and recently made his case with a match-winning hundred against India in the first ODI in Chennai.
Veteran Indian spinner Piyush Chawla remained a hit with the franchises and was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 6.75 crore. He was the highest paid India during this auction.
KKR went for England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, paying Rs 5.25 crore for the stylish southpaw.
Asked why they paid big money for Cummins and Morgan, KKR’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said: “Morgan’s recent form has been tremendous. As a leadership group, Morgan will add a lot of strength to what we already have.
“And for a player of his (Cummins) calibre, he brings a lot with the ball and bat as well.”
Maxwell returns to KXIP to boost their unsettled middle-order. KXIP CEO Satish Menon expressed confidence in Maxwell coming good for them.
“He was always on our radar. The middle-order was a bit of concern. He has been with us (in the past) so he knows the set up well,” said Menon.
The seasoned Robin Uthappa was bagged by inaugural edition winners Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3 crore. Uthappa had gone into the auction with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore, the highest for an Indian. He too was released by KKR last month.
India pacer Jaydev Unadkat returned to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3 crore, a massive pay cut from the last two editions when RR bought him for Rs 11.5 crore (2018) and Rs 8.5 crore (2019). India U-19 youngsters Priyam Garg (Rs 1.9 cr for SRH), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 2.4 crore) and Kartik Tyagi (Rs 1.3 crore) — both to Rajasthan Royals.
Unsold Players
The Indian Test specialist duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihara went unsold. South African pace great Dale Steyn finally had a face-saving bid of Rs 2 crore from the RCB during the last round.
While 14-year-old youngest auction entrant Noor Ahmed of Afghanistan didn’t have any takers, the oldest Praveen Tambe at 48, got a base price bid of Rs 20 lakh from the Kolkata Knight Riders.
(With PTI inputs)
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