IPL Auction: Big pay day for big-hitting Livingstone

Englishman Liam Livingstone was the biggest earner on the second and concluding day of the Indian Premier League mega auction as a majority of the franchises, having procured their desired stars for hefty amounts the previous day, focussed on assembling the assortments to complete their squads here on Sunday.

While Livingstone, a big-hitting batsman who can even bowl good off and leg spin, was purchased for a whopping Rs 11.50 crore — the fourth highest buy this auction — by Punjab Kings following an intense bidding war with three other franchises, Indian pacers Khaleel Ahmed (Rs 5.25 cr) and Chetan Sakariya (4.20 cr) also earned handsome sums, both purchased by Delhi Capitals.

All-rounder Shivam Dube got a good deal, Chennai Super Kings buying the Mumbaikar for Rs 4 cr, and Ajinkya Rahane, often pilloried for his limitations in limited-overs cricket, was lucky to land a deal with Kolkata Knight Riders for his base price of Rs 1 cr.

The biggest surprise at the auction was five-time champions Mumbai Indians buying Jofra Archer for Rs 8 cr despite knowing the Englishman won’t be bowling a single ball this year as he recuperates from his right elbow injury. Considering players bought at this auction will remain in the squad for three years as per current rules, MI splurged a hefty sum keeping the future in mind and sacrificing the present. Archer sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah next year should be a sight for the sore eyes.

“Although it's going to be next year but we're very very happy to have Jof and Boom (Bumrah) make a lethal pair for our bowling attack," MI owner Akash Ambani told host broadcasters Star Sports.

MI, who have the uncanny knack of spotting talents or turning youngsters into superstars, made another big buy in roping in Singapore’s batting all-rounder Tim David for a massive 8.25 crore.

Livingstone is the typical highly valuable T20 player. Not only can be belt the ball into the stands easily, he’s a more than a handy spinner who can easily turn his arm around for 2-3 overs without being taken for much and an excellent fielder too. In 17 T20Is, his batting strike rate is 158.33 while bowling economy is 7.12 — stats which will impress any team. So when his name was drawn, not surprisingly there was activity across the tables in the auction room.

KKR and defending champions CSK kick-started the bidding war and quickly his stock rose to Rs 4 cr when the latter pulled out. Punjab Kings then jumped in but KKR, who spent big on Shreyas Iyer (Rs 12.5 cr), Nitish Rana (Rs 8 cr), Pat Cummins (Rs 7.25 cr) and Shivam Mavi (Rs 7.25 cr) on Saturday, were ready to loosen their purse strings yet again. But they were forced to pull out at 6.25 cr.

Watching the activity with great interest, Gujarat Titans then entered the fray and they went toe to toe with Punjab. When Livingstone surpassed Rs 10 cr, Gujarat pulled out but there was more drama as Sunrisers Hyderabad made a late appearance, catching Punjab cold. At that stage it looked Livingstone could end up surpassing Ben Stokes (Rs 14.5 cr) as the most expensive English player but Punjab were able to lock him for Rs 11.5 crore.

“He is one of the best all-rounders, bowls off spin, leg spin. He is a world-class cricketer," Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia said about his prized purchase.

Amongst the Indians the biggest earner on the day was Rajasthan left-arm pacer Khaleel. A tennis-ball cricketer turned leather-ball exponent, the 24-year-old Khaleel hasn’t tasted much success since first turning up for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018. However, Khaleel has plenty of potential and that prompted MI and DC to go strongly for him. They kept raising the paddle before DC locked him at 5.25 cr.

Overall, most teams made some wise buys, especially DC, Lucknow Super Giants, MI and Punjab. Delhi have an explosive top order and good bowling attack, debutants Lucknow have pieced together a good blend of big-hitting batsmen and bowling unit, MI have their assortment of stars and strong talent while Punjab have ace players in every department.

Now, the teams will be looking forward to the real action in April.

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