Million dollar man
Boult cashes in
Trent Boult will be a happy man after being sold for more than $1 million at the Indian Premier League auction.
The 27-year-old New Zealand fast bowler was the subject of a bidding duel yesterday between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians before the former got their man for five crore rupees (NZ$1.04m).
That figure does not necessarily indicate what his salary will be. Players are paid pro-rata based on how many games they are available for.
It was the second-highest price paid for a New Zealand player in the IPL. Brendon McCullum got 7.5 crore rupees ($1.56m) in 2015 when drafted by the team now known as the Gujarat Lions. Ross Taylor went for 4.6 crore rupees ($950,000) in 2011.
Boult’s Blackcaps team-mate Corey Anderson was picked up in the early action when sold for his reserve price of $208,000 to the Delhi Daredevils. He was joined later on by Matt Henry, who went for his reserve price of $103,000 to Kings XI Punjab.
The news was not so good for batsmen Martin Guptill and Taylor, who were among the early players in the auction, but failed to attract any bids. Players who aren’t initially sold go to a secondary auction, so the pair may get picked up at that point.
It was the second year in a row Guptill missed out, although this year was not as surprising as last year when he was in the white-ball form of his life.
There was no love either for Kiwis Ish Sodhi and Glenn Phillips. Twelve other New Zealanders will go under the hammer later in the auction.
Earlier, Englishman Ben Stokes fetched the highest ever price for an overseas player at the Indian Premier League auction.
New Zealand coach Stephen Fleming and his Rising Pune Supergiants team went to 14.5 crore – more than $3m – for the allrounder, despite the fact he will probably miss the knockout stage of the tournament for England’s tour of South Africa.
He was just short of the record for a player at the auction. That was Indian star Yuvraj Singh, who went for 16 crore rupees to the Delhi Daredevils in 2015.
Another Kiwi coach got his wallet out a short time later. Daniel Vettori spent 12 crore rupees ($2.5m) for English paceman Tymal Mills to play for his Royal Challengers Bangalore side in what is thought to be the highest price paid for a bowler.
The story of the auction was teenage Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan going for $832,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad. In T20 internationals he has taken 31 wickets at an average of 16. The move was even more surprising considering South Africa spinner Imran Tahir, the No 1 ranked bowler in ODI and T20 internationals, failed to attract a bid, despite having a reserve of just $103,000.
At the start of the auction there were just 29 overseas spots left, with 125 players, including 19 New Zealanders, vying for those at auction.
The eight franchises retained 140 players including five New Zealanders: Kane Williamson (Sunrisers), Brendon McCullum (Gujarat Lions), Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan (Mumbai) and Adam Milne (Bangalore).