Coffees on Boult after big pay day
Trent Boult is eyeing a new pair of jeans after being sold for more than $1 million at the Indian Premier League auction on Monday night (NZ time).
The Black Caps left-arm swing bowler was still pinching himself at training yesterday, having been bought for $1.04m by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Boult was the third equal most expensive player snapped up in the IPL auction, with Christchurch-born English allrounder Ben Stokes, going top for a whopping $3.01m to Stephen Fleming’s Rising Pune Supergiants.
He followed updates on Twitter with several New Zealand teammates in Christchurch ahead of the second one-day international against South Africa at Hagley Oval today.
When he ticked over the $1m mark, he said there was a sense of disbelief. As far as a first purchase goes, ‘‘a new pair of jeans’’ was high on his shopping list.
It was Boult’s coffee shout on Monday night with fellow paceman Tim Southee quick to get an order in.
‘‘It’s a lot of money. It’s bizarre how that much money can be put on the head of a player to play for six or seven weeks. It’s a huge honour,’’ Boult said.
It was the second-highest price paid for a New Zealand player in the IPL. Former Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum got $1.56m in 2015, when drafted by the team now known as the Gujarat Lions. Ross Taylor went for $950,000 in 2011.
Boult’s million dollar price tag doesn’t necessarily indicate what his salary will be. Players are paid pro-rata based on how many games they are available for.
‘‘I think I need to earn that definitely. If you go there and you don’t play a game, you can easily miss out on a fair chunk of it.
‘‘I’m not going there just for the money.
‘‘The experience of getting there in front of thousands of people and a lot of Indian fans is the most exciting part.’’
Boult has been in strong form for the Black Caps, snaring careerbest figures of 6-33 to lift New Zealand to a 2-0 Chappell-Hadlee whitewash of Australia a fortnight ago.
His reserve price was $312,000. He didn’t have any inkling he would draw such substantial money from the Knight Riders.