Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was the surprise pick in the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction held at Jaipur on Tuesday.
Chakravarthy fetched the joint highest sum in Tuesday’s auction after he was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for $1.2 million. The 27-year-old was joined by Jaydev Unadkat in the millionaire’s list who was sold for an identical sum to his previous team Rajasthan Royals.
The bidding war for Chakravarthy was the highlight of the auction which also saw England all-rounder Sam Curran fetch a price of one million from Kings XI Punjab.
Chakravarthy, who left cricket to pursue architecture at one stage, is adept at bowling both off-spin and leg-spin.
AND SOLD for 8.4Cr.! 🔥🔨
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) December 18, 2018
WHAT. A. BID!
Varun Chakaravarthy, welcome!#KXIP #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #SaddaSquad #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/i3sHoa93yI
“What a bid! Varun Chakaravarthy joins us for the new season of IPL!” Kings XI Punjab tweeted after snaring the mystery spinner.
As many as 351 players including 120 overseas stars went under the hammer in Tuesday’s auction with West Indies stalwarts scoring big. Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for $707,150 while his compatriots Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran fetched identical sums of $594,195 from Royal Challengers Banglalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively.
While there was delight for Curran, there was also good news for his compatriot Jonny Bairstow who earned a maiden IPL contract after being brought for $311,982 by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“Delighted to be joining @SunRisers for #IPL2019! Can’t wait to get started for the #OrangeArmy,” he wrote on Twitter.
There was no such just for his England team-mates Chris Woakes and Alex Hales who went unsold in the auction.
Sri Lanka veteran pacer Lasith Malinga rejoined the Mumbai Indians after being released from his contract while New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders.
