IPL EXCITEMENT: WHY AUCTION MADE MOEEN ALI’S DAY
All-rounder Moeen set to join Dhoni-led Chennai IPL team
ENGLAND all-rounder Moeen Ali could not hide his excitement at being picked for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, saying he was “absolutely buzzing” to play under India great MS Dhoni.
Ali was sold for £700,000 at the auction, almost three times more than his base price of £250,000, after a bidding war for his services between CSK and Punjab Kings.
It was the Dhoni-led CSK who came out on top and will now be hoping Ali can help them to a fourth title after a disappointing 2020 campaign where they failed to make the knockout stage.
“I’m absolutely buzzing to be playing for CSK this year. It’s made my day, it’s made my year,” said the 33-year-old. “They have a massive fan base.
“To play under MS Dhoni will be amazing, it’s something that most cricketers want to do. Having Sam Curran as a teammate is also great, I’m looking forward to that.”
CSK are the most succesful francise in IPL history, but an ageing squad saw them limp to a disappointing seventh place finish last year after losing eight of their 14 games. Bigname stars such as Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav and Harbhajan Singh were subsequently let go.
Ali is expected to replace Watson, who was known for his bighitting at the top of the innings.
The CSK bowling coach, L Balaji, said: “We were focusing on an all-rounder and powerhitting. Moeen is a good buy. He is handy with the ball and also can bat in the top order. [Shane] Watson gave us that flexibility in the top order. Now Moeen gives us depth and the option of a dual role – [I’m] 100 per cent sure he’ll fill in what we’re looking at.”
South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris became the most expensive player bought at the IPL after Rajasthan Royals paid $2.25 million (£1.6m) for him, breaking the record $2.2m (£1.6m) paid for Yuvraj Singh by Delhi in 2015.
Australian bowler Pat Cummins had previously been the most expensive foreign player, costing Kolkata Knight Riders $2.17m (£1.55m) in 2019.
The franchises opened up their cheque books as they sought to rebound from the pandemic which forced them to play behind closed doors last year.
New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson went to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for $2m (£1.4m), 14 times his start price at the auction.
RCB also bought 32-year-old Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for $1.95m (£1.4m) after another bidding battle. He was released by Punjab Kings – who paid $1.5m (£1.07m) for him in 2020 – after just one season. Punjab signed Australian quick Jhye Richardson, 24, for $1.9m (£1.36m). He has played just two Tests and nine T20 matches. They also spent $1.1m (£790,000)
for Australian
fast bowler Riley Meredith, who has never played for his country.
Meanwhile, former Australia captain Steve Smith went to Delhi Capitals for just $300,000 (£215,000) after being released by Rajasthan.
Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham was the costliest Indian after he was bought by CSK for $1.25m (£900,000).
Arjun Tendulkar, son of Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, was picked up by Mumbai Indians in the last transaction of the day.
Morris, 33, took centre stage, however, with a protracted bidding war between Rajasthan, RCB, reigning champions Mumbai and Punjab.
“The most expensive player in IPL history is now a Royal,” Rajasthan said as it trumpeted bringing in Morris, who will join a team including England stars Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes.
“It was quite a high price, but the role in the team and the demand for the role plays a large part,” Rajasthan’s director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, said.
Morris, a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, played for Rajasthan in 2015. Since then, he has been with Delhi and RCB, taking 80 wickets in 70 IPL matches.
According to the IPL’s rules, each team is allowed to spend nearly $12m (£8.6m) on salaries, while many have a high number of retained players.
India captain Virat Kohli is believed to have the highest IPL salary, earning some $2.7m (£1.9m) a year at RCB in 2018. He has never been part of the auction.
Meanwhile, Chinese phone maker Vivo returned as the IPL’s lead sponsor after the deal was suspended last year following a deadly border clash between India and China.
Vivo had signed a five-year contract in 2017 that was worth more than $330m (£236m) to sponsor the lucrative annual event.