19 February,2021 07:21 AM IST | Mumbai | Harit Joshi
Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara, who copped 11 blows on his body during the historic win at the Gabba last month, was rewarded with an IPL contract on Thursday. The Indian Test great has been without any IPL team since 2014 when he played for Kings XI Punjab. He could have missed on Thursday too.
Initially, there seemed to be no bidders, but Chennai Super Kings showed interest in Pujara and snapped him at his base price of Rs 50 lakh. However, Hanuma Vihari, who was one of the stars in India's Test series victory in Australia, was not lucky like Pujara as he again went unsold at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
There was a âVeer Zara' moment during the IPL players auction on Thursday when Bollywood star Preity Zinta bought Shah Rukh Khan. However, it is not the superstar actor but rookie Tamil Nadu off-spinner, who was successfully bid by Zinta's co-owned team Punjab Kings for a whopping Rs 5.25 crore. Shah Rukh's base price was R20 lakh. Zinta spoke to King Khan's son Aryan after buying SRK's namesake. "I have not spoken to Shah Rukh as yet, but I had a chat with Aryan though. We were happy to buy him," she said in the media conference.
South African Chris Morris became the costliest IPL player ever when Rajasthan Royals bought him for Rs 16.25 crore. New Zealander Kyle Jamieson was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 15 crore - the fourth-most expensive buy in IPL history.
Punjab Kings got Australian quicks Jhye Richardson (Rs 14 crore) and Riley Meredith (Rs 8 crore).
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, who is Director of Operations for Mumbai Indians, was obviously delighted with fast bowlers in demand. "It's very exciting. Over 12 years of the IPL, we've seen that the franchises have taken note of and we've seen the rise in demand and the competition in the auction room. When that time comes, we all look at each other and nobody is willing to back down. An exciting time for bowling all-rounders and bowlers all around," he said.
