Sports Reporter :
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh for Indian Rupees (INR) 3.2 crore for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). The mini auction of IPL was held at Chennai in India on Thursday. Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman was piked up Rajasthan Royals for Indian Rupees 1 crore.
Chris Morris of South Africa became the most expensive cricketer in IPL history as Rajasthan Royals bought Morris for INR 16.25 crore at the IPL 2021 auction.
Earlier, Delhi Daredevils paid Yuvraj Singh for INR 16 crore in the IPL auction in 2015. Shakib Al Hasan, the prolific all-rounder, who missed out on playing in the previous edition of the most prominent franchisee T20 tournament due to serving a year-long ban imposed by the ICC, was one of the 11 cricketers to be listed at the highest base price.
Shakib played in eight editions of IPL so far — six times for KKR and two times for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shakib scored a total of 746 runs with an average of 21.31 and bagged 59 wickets in the 63 matches played in IPL.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 142.5 million (14.25 crore). He had his base price as Rs 20 million, but a bidding war unfolded between RCB and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Moeen Ali of England was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for INR 7 crore.
The IPL “mini-auction” this year has 291 players going under the hammer as England pacer Mark Wood withdrew from the auction at the end moment.
All these cricketers have been shortlisted by the eight franchises. The eight franchises are : Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Royals Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from associate nations are up for grabs in the mini-auction.
