A five-star hotel in Bengaluru also witnessed a few tricky moments when it came to picking players for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
It was not just in Johannesburg where Team India bowlers were testing the South African batsmen with well-aimed bouncers. A five-star hotel in Bengaluru also witnessed a few tricky moments when it came to picking players for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
English 22-year-old big hitter Jofra Archer attracting a whopping Rs 7.2 crore from Rajasthan Royals and West Indian star Chris Gayle getting a thumbs down by all the eight franchises was the highlight of the first day of the IPL auctions on Saturday.
The other key point of the first part of the auctions was the costliest buy, Ben Stokes. Despite question marks over the full availability of the English player and his recent brush with law back home, the all-rounder came out as the biggest winner of the day.
Going from a base price of Rs 2 crore, Stokes was picked for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore by Rajasthan Royals, who are back from their two-year suspension related to the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Stokes has been out of English squad ever since a drunken brawl outside a nightclub in Bristol last year, but that didn't deter the teams from going after him. In any case, Royals will be allowed to go for a replacement should Stokes not be able to play the IPL season from April 7 to May 27.
But one the biggest stories of the day came from little-known Archer. Born in Barbados and waiting to become eligible to play for England, Archer proved that he is cricket's most exciting prospects with his blistering pace and big-hitting capability.
He has been rewarded for taking 40 wickets in the 34 games in the Big Bash League for the Hobart Hurricanes. And, his ability in the lower-order to strike big with the bat at a strike rate of 145-plus makes him even more valuable.
No takers for Gayle
But a big jaw-dropping moment came early on Saturday when Gayle's name was read out. Holder of the most sixes feat in IPL with many other batting records, Gayle was given a miss by everyone in the hall. Gayle's heroics in the Bangladesh Premier League failed to overshadow his poor form last IPL season.
Though Gayle could still be picked up on Sunday, the scenario matched the one in 2011, when the West Indian opener went unsold. It was only after Australian Dirk Nannes was injured that Gayle was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore, going on to become an iconic player of the Virat Kohli-led side.
Indians rake in money
Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan was the first player bought at the auction. His old franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, used the Right to Match (RTM) card to snap him up after Kings XI Punjab offered to buy him for Rs 5.2 crore.
This set up the tone for the rest of the day as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the day's first million dollar player, going for Rs 7.6 crore to Kings XI Punjab.
Chennai Super Kings, surprisingly, did not use RTM despite skipper MS Dhoni's remarks a few days ago that his team will go all out for Ashwin.
KL Rahul became the joint-most expensive India player of the day, going for Rs 11 crore to Kings XI. His opening partner Murali Vijay, however, did not get any bidder.
Rahul was joined by his Karnataka teammate Manish Pandey on the podium as Sunrisers paid the same amount as Rahul for his services.
Amongst the 16 RTMs used on Saturday, it was Mumbai Indians who paid 22 times (Rs 8.8 crore) more than Krunal Pandya's base price of Rs 40 lakh to ensure the Pandya brothers remain together.
Gambhir goes to DD
Harbhajan Singh will not be turning out for MI for the first time in IPL history after being picked by CSK for mere base price of Rs 2 crore.
Almost similar was the scenario with former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, who was picked for paltry Rs. 2.8 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
Gambhir may have termed it as homecoming but the fact remains that his market value has nosedived despite leading his former team to two titles.
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