KKR splurge on Green and Pathirana
Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green and Rs 18
crore to acquire the services of Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana in the Indian Premier League players’ auction here on Tuesday.
Uncapped Indian players were also a big hit with Uttar Pradesh’s 20-year-old left-arm spinner Prashant Veer and
Rajasthan’s 19-year-old keeper-batter Kartik Sharma going to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 14.20 crore each.
Both became the highest paid uncapped players in the history of IPL auction after coming in at a base price of Rs 30 lakh each.
Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi Dar also attracted a hefty sum of Rs 8.40 crore from Delhi Capitals to be among the top gainers in the mini auction. Dar’s base price was also Rs 30 lakh.
India internationals Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan
went unsold initially despite their good run of form
with the bat. However, both were later bought for Rs 75
lakh each during the accelerated round. Sarfaraz went to Chennai Super Kings while Shaw was bought by Delhi Capitals.
Shaw has been in fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, while Sarfaraz
smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai against Rajasthan
just before the start of the auction.
Delhi Capitals also bought New Zealand Kyle Jamieson for Rs 2 crore in the last minute.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction.
This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who got the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
The three-time champions then entered the fray to buy Pathirana after Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants withdrew following an intense bidding war between the two franchises.
Entering the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore, Pathirana became the most expensive Sri Lankan sold in an IPL auction. As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would
still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI’s player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players. Pathirana will get the full amount as it falls within the salary cap.
