There were absolute scenes at the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru
on 12th and 13th February, as we witnessed the mega
auction for IPL 2022, and it was nothing less than a thriller. The two
action-packed days saw the 10 franchises break their banks to secure 204
top-quality players and strengthen their squads for the upcoming season. Former
players heading back home, bittersweet goodbyes, ambitious new additions, and
even two auctioneers, we have seen it all.
74 players were bought under the hammer on the opening day,
with Ishan Kishan being the most expensive buy of the entire auction - going
for a massive 15.25 crore to Mumbai Indians. With 62 crores remaining in our
purse, the start of the day saw us securing the first marquee player called out
– Ravichandran Ashwin for 5 crores, followed in quick succession by Kiwi quick
Trent Boult for 8 crores.
The first two buys had already got the Royals Family glued to
their screens. However, it was not too long before we could hear the Calypso
play in the background and the RR management swooped in to acquire Caribbean
powerhouse Shimron Hetymer for a hefty 8.5 crores.
The RR top order already looked scary after retentions, with
Sanju, Jos, and Jaiswal, but little did we know that there was more firepower
coming - in the form of former RCB man Devdutt Padikkal. The gifted southpaw
has been impressive over the past two years and had even scored a sublime ton
against the Royals during IPL 2021 in Mumbai. The very sought-after Padikkal
came on board for 7.75 crores.
Next up, the Royals got into a back and forth tussle with the
two new franchises, and this was for the very talented Indian speedster Prasidh Krishna, or shall we say ‘Skiddy’. The young quick was the most expensive buy
for the Royals - a massive 10 crores - and may very well be tearing through
batting line-ups alongside Trent Boult.
‘If bargain buys were an art,
Royals would be the Picasso of it’ – (RR Admin). Handing the pink over to YuzvendraChahal for just 6.5 crores is arguably one of the steals of this auction.
Having proved how dangerous he can be with his variations and head-turning
leggies, the ex-RCB man and Indian international is set to grace the Royals
locker room and team up with Ashwin to form a lethal spinning duo.
The Royals closed a rather fruitful day by bringing back home
two of our former players – budding future superstar Riyan Parag (3.8 crores)
and spin wizard K.C. Cariappa (30 Lakhs).
Day 2 – The teams returned with their purses half full and
the Royals started to warm their paddle up with 12.15 crores in the bag. The
day started off rather slow for us as we had spent majority of our purse on
high-quality first XI players, and still had several slots to fill. In pursuit
of the same, bittersweet moments followed as the Royals were forced to bid
farewell to some former players like Jofra Archer, Chetan Sakariya, Rahul
Tewatia, Mustafizur Rahman & Liam Livingstone - who were a key part of the
franchise in recent years.
But things picked up soon after, as Indian quick Navdeep
Saini was added to our pace attack for 2.6 crores. To further strengthen the
fast bowling department, we successfully bid for Windies death bowling
sensation Obed McCoy (75 Lakhs).
Before moving on to the uncapped listings for the day, Karun
Nair (1.4 crores) was set for a homecoming and will be donning RR colours yet
again after a few years away. We then picked up some superb young Indians, most
of who would be making their IPL debut with the Royals – Anunay Singh (20
Lakhs), Kuldeep Sen (20 Lakhs), Dhruv Jurel (20 Lakhs), Tejas Baroka (20
Lakhs), Shubham Garhwal (20 Lakhs). Among this lot, quick left-armer Kuldip
Yadav (20 Lakhs) was also welcomed back to the Royals squad.
But this was not the end of it. The Royals had been patient
and saved the best for the last. As most teams neared exhaustion of their
purses, RR capitalized when the unsold players were being called out again. To
everyone's delight, the Royals raised the paddle in quick succession in a
sensational trolley dash, picking up 4 international stars at base price, in 4
minutes!
James Neehsam (1.5 crores)
Nathan Coulter-Nile (2 crores)
Rassie van der Dussen (1 crore)
Daryl Mitchell (75 Lakhs)
With a perfect mix of youth, experience and different skill
sets, the Royals ended this year’s auction with a strong squad and arguably
with one of the strongest teams on paper.
Presenting to you the Royals squad ahead of TATA IPL 2022 –
We look forward to an amazing season, with
power-packed performances and hopefully the championship. Halla Bol!
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