New Delhi, India – Former West Indies Twenty20 International captain Nicholas Pooran headed five players from the Caribbean picked up in the Indian Premier League auction on Friday.
Pooran started the year by becoming the most expensive West Indies player sold at an IPL auction, and he broke that record again when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) spent close to US $1.951 million to buy him for next season.
For a while, the fight for Pooran seemed to be a contest between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, but once Super Giants swooped in with a bid nearing a million dollars, it became a two-team race between them and Capitals.
The other West Indies players that were bought in the auction among 29 from outside India were: Barbadian all-rounder Jason Holder to Rajasthan Royals for US$701 000, Trinidadian left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein to Sunrisers Hyderabad for US$121 000, Guyanese all-rounder Romario Shepherd for US$60 000 to LSG, and Jamaican pacer Odean Smith to Gujarat Titans for US$60 000.
St Lucian batsman Johnson Charles and Guyanese left-hander Sherfane Rutherford were the only two West Indies players that remained unsold after the auction.
The auction concluded in New Delhi with 80 players being sold, and England all-rounder Sam Curran becoming the most expensive buy in the history of the auction, when Punjab Kings outbid five other teams to sign him for about US$2.25 million.
Curran was the Player-of-the-Final and the Player-of-the-Tournament at the 2022 ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
The 10 franchises shelled out more than US$20 million for some of the finest talent available, giving them a chance to unleash their potential and make an impact in the upcoming edition of the tournament. (CMC)
