The mini auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 concluded on Thursday in Chennai. The event ended up throwing some big surprises as the eight franchises vied with each other to pick and choose the final 292 players who were enlisted in the bidding game.
Among the big purchases was Australian’s pacer Jhye Richardson who was picked by the Punjab Kings XI for a whopping Rs 14 crore in the IPL auction on Thursday. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings were at loggerheads for the player in the auction. Richardson’s inclusion comes after his brilliant performance with the ball for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The Aussie pacer’s base price was Rs 1.5 crore, but he finally got picked for a record price. However, upon knowing about his record price at the auction, he later said that the moment was ‘still sinking in’,speaking in a virtual interview to reporters.Richardsonis currently under quarantine in Christchurch. He will be seen in action against New Zealand in a T20 series. In the interview, the pacer said he was following the auction andwas a bit nervous when his name came up at the auction.
Watch it here:
Jhye Richardson’s huge price tag at the #IPLAuction2021 is still ‘sinking in’ after initially fearing being not picked up at all! pic.twitter.com/WDOlvy5lpR— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 19, 2021
He also added that for the first 20 minutes, none of the franchises put their paddle up and he experienced a ‘oh no’ moment. Then,the paddles went up, ‘which was probably like’ five or 10 seconds, but those moments ‘felt like a lifetime’.
He also said that throughout the bidding time, he experienced several emotions and it was as good as playing a game of cricket as it left him mentally exhausted.
“I feel like I played a game yesterday. I mentally exhausted myself of feeling all these emotions, of feeling sick and excited," he said.
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