The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the 11th edition of the tournament began on Saturday with some Indian players bagging million dollar deals, however, Union Minister Babul Supriyo and Congress leader Manish Tewari expressed unhappiness over the players' auction.
The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the 11th edition of the tournament began on Saturday with some Indian players bagging million dollar deals, however, Union Minister Babul Supriyo and Congress leader Manish Tewari expressed unhappiness over the players' auction.
"Is an auction of human beings( read IPL Players) a good idea?," questioned former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari in a tweet.
Stating that auction of humans used to take place in barbaric ages, the Congress leader asked, "Can’t there be a more dignified method of evaluating skill and talent?"
Whereas, Union Minister of State Babul Supriyo also expressed his displeasure over the amount at which players were sold.
"Most of these players don’t even deserve half the obscene amount they are being bought," Supriyo said
The minister also hoped that huge taxes on both players and the payers so that at least the Nation can benefit from this ridiculous display of opulence.
Up to 578 players, out of the 1,122 players, have been kept for the final two-day auction, which includes 244 capped players (62 from India), 332 uncapped players (34 from overseas), and two players from Associate countries.
Indian players dominated the bidding wars as KL Rahul and Manish Pandey laughed their way to the bank with multi-million dollar deals but England all-rounder Ben Stokes once again emerged the costliest buy in the IPL auctions
Despite all the off-field controversies, Stokes was snapped up for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore (USD 1.96 million) by Rajasthan Royals after Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings also engaged in a fierce bidding war.
Kedar Jadhav, one of Mahendra Singh Dhoni 'Go To Man' during his last stint as India captain, also fetched a healthy price of Rs 7.80 crore.
However, West Indian swashbuckler Chris Gayle surprisingly went unsold despite his well-established T20 batting credentials. England Test captain Joe Root also went unsold.
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 "Manish Tiwari - Babul Supriyo")
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