Chris Morris becomes most expensive IPL buy, sold for `16.25 crores
Bought for `16.25 crore, SA’s Chris is most expensive ever at IPL auction
It began with an awkward silence and ended in laughter. In between, during the three-and-a-halfhour auction, franchises spent an extravagant amount of `145.3 crore on 57 players.
It took some time for the auction to heat up as the first three names — Karun Nair, Alex Hales and Jason Roy — that came out of the bag evoked little interest. Delhi Capitals broke the ice by snapping up Australia’s Steve Smith for `20 lakh more than his base price of `2 crore. But it was the arrival of Glenn Maxwell that spiced up the proceedings.
Tug of war for Maxwell
After Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders dragged the bid from `2 crore to `4 crore, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore swooped in. Both seemed desperate. The ensuing tug-of-war meant that Maxwell, who didn’t hit a single six in the previous edition, laughed all the way to the bank, again. The price that RCB finally paid for Maxwell was `14.25 crore — `3.5 crore more than what Punjab paid him last time around.
In what was a terrible outing in 2020, Maxwell scored only 108 runs in 11 innings. The Aussie has vowed, in a tweet, to end RCB’s barren run in the IPL.
Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket, said Maxwell is the X-factor player they have been looking for. “We know how good a player he is away from the IPL. Only a couple of years ago he was used higher up and had his best IPL. He can help AB de Villiers and provide an extra bit of power in the middle,” he said.
Morris the surprise
The biggest surprise, however, was Chris Morris. The South African allrounder (sold to Rajasthan Royals for `16.25 crore) overtook Yuvraj Singh (`16 crore in 2015), Pat Cummins (`15.5 crore in 2020) and Ben Stokes (`14.5 crore in 2017) to become the most expensive player ever at the IPL auction.
Morris hasn’t played a single game since he suffered an injury in IPL-13. Jake Lush McCrum, CEO of Rajasthan Royals, is confident that Morris will live up to their expectations. “He is a quality bowler who can win us games with the bat too,” said McCrum.
Having lost Maxwell to RCB, Chennai Super Kings went after another off-spinning allrounder. CSK got Moeen Ali for `7 crore. Moeen said he can’t wait to play under M. S. Dhoni. “It would be amazing. CSK have a massive fan base, I’m absolutely buzzing now,” he added.
CSK also bought offspinner Krishnappa Gowtham for `9.25 crore, making him the most expensive uncapped player.
K.S. Viswanathan, CEO of CSK, expected a tough auction as the other teams knew CSK would be looking to buy an off-spinning allrounder. “We are happy it turned out to be fruitful. I’m also delighted to have one more local player, Hari Nishant, in our lineup,” he said.
Field day for pacers
It was a field day for fast bowlers from Down Under as Kyle Jamieson (sold to RCB for `15 crore), Jhye Richardson (Punjab, `14 crore), Riley Meredith (Punjab, `8 crore) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai, `5 crore) made some moolah.
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, Mumbai Indians’ director of cricket operations, said it was exciting to see fast bowlers in high demand. “It’s something the franchises have taken note of, over the past 12 years or so. There's a rise in demand now and that's reflected in the auction,” he said.
Pujara back after 6 years
India’s ‘Test specialist’ Cheteshwar Pujara made a comeback to IPL after a six-year gap with CSK bagging the Saurashtra batsman for his base price of `50 lakh. CSK bowling coach L. Balaji said Pujara deserved an IPL contract. “He deserves that mark of respect. He is one player I genuinely feel is giving his sweat and blood to the country. I feel genuinely happy for him,” Balaji said.
Tendulkar Jr in Mumbai
It was the name everybody was waiting for and it came at the end. When auctioneer Hugh Edmeades called out Arjun Tendulkar’s name, pat came the response from the Mumbai Indians. No surprise. Zaheer raised the paddle and sealed the deal with a smile. A hearty laugh signalled the end of the auction.
He deserves that mark of respect. He is one player I genuinely feel is giving his sweat and blood to the country. I feel genuinely happy for him. — L. BALAJI Chennai Super Kings bowling coach on picking Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara