– Delhi Capitals buy Rutherford for US$277,000, Paul US$70,000
Shimron Hetmyer became the first big-ticket purchase at the India Premier League (IPL) 2019 Auction, fetching a winning bid of INR 4.20 crore (US$588,000) from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The West Indian batsman – known to Indian audiences for his sensational hitting during the recent ODI series between the teams – found himself in a fierce tug of war in the opening half hour of the auction in Jaipur on Wednesday.
RCB were actually the last entrants during Hetmyer’s bid, with Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals initially in the fray for the 21-year-old, and Sunrisers Hyderabad taking the bid up to Rs 4 crore (US$560,000).
Bangalore’s first bid ended up being good enough to pick up the explosive West Indian.
Hetmyer shot into the Indian mindspace with some astounding hitting during West Indies’ ODI series in India in October, smashing 106 off 78 balls and 94 off 64 balls in back-to-back games at Guwahati and Visakhapatnam.
The left-hander possesses a healthy career T20 strike rate of 144, already forming a penchant of hitting sixes with ease (26 sixes in 19 T20s, 30 sixes in 20 ODIs).
Guyanese all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford, with a T20 strike-rate of 142 and a First-Class best of 6 for 32, joined the Delhi team for INR 2 crore (approximately US$277,000). Delhi also capitalised and bought fellow Guyanese Keemo Paul for 50 lakh (approximately US$70,000).
Carlos Brathwaite will resume his Eden Gardens love affair, going to Kolkata Knight Riders as they beat out Kings XI, the franchise with the biggest purse at this auction, to buy him for INR 5 crore (approximately US$694,000). The West Indies all-rounder first made a name for himself in the World T20 final in 2016 when he hit four sixes off four balls to win the title at Eden Gardens.
Oshane Thomas, who is known to hit speeds of 150 kilometres per hour, will do just that for Royals, who acquired him for INR 1.1 crore (approximately US$153,000)
Hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran will join Kings XI’s squad, for INR 4.2 crore (approximately US$588,000).
IPL 2019 team squads:
Chennai Super Kings reads: R Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, S Raina, F duPlessis, M Vijay, S Billings, A Rayudu, D Shorey N Jagadeesan, R Jadeja, D Willey, B Bravo, S Watson, K Jadhav, C Brishnoi, M Santner, I Tahir, H Singh, K Sharma, M Sharma, L Ngidi, D Chahar, KM Asif, S Thakur, and M Kumar.
Delhi Capitals reads: A Baines, H Vihari, S Iyer, S Dhawan, R Pant, P Shaw, C Munro, J Saxena, K Paul, S Rutherford, C Ingram, A Patel, H Patel, M Kalara, C Morris, A Mishra, R Tewatia, J Yadav, S Lamichhane, B Ayyappa, N Singh, I Sharma, A Khan, K Rabada, and T Boult.
Kings XI Punjab reads: S Singh, S Khan, N Pooran, KL Rahul, C Gayle, M Agarwal, K Nair, D Miler, M Singh, H Brar, A Ayachu, D Nalkande, S Curran, V Chakaravarthy, M Henriques, M Ashwin, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, R Ashwin, A Singh, H Vilojen, M Shami, A Tye, and A Rajpoot.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad reads: J Denly, N Naik, D Karthik, R Uthappa, C Lynn, S Gill, R Singh, S Mundhe, C Brathwaite, A Russell, S Narine, N Rana, P Chawla, K Yadav, P Yara, H Gurney, A Nortje, L Ferguson, P Krishna, S Mavi, and K Nagarkoti.
Mumbai Indians reads: Yuvraj Singh, A Singh, R Sharma, I Kishan, S Yadav, S Lad, A Tare, E Lewis, Q de Kock, P Jaswal, H Pandya, K Pandya, A Roy, K Pollard, B Cutting, M Markande, R Chahar, R Dar, B Sran, L Malinga, J Bumrah, M Mc Clenaghan, A Milne, and J Behrendorff.
Rajasthan Royals reads: H Singh, H Klaseen, D Padikkal, S Hetmyer, V Kohli, A de Villers, P Patel, A Nath, P Barman, M Kumar, S Dube, G Singh, W Sundar, P Negi, M Ali, C de Grandhome, M Stoinis, Y Chahal, N Coulternile, M Siraj, T Southee, U Yadav, N Saini, and K Khejroliya.
Sunrisers Hyderabad squad reads: M Guptill, W Saha, J Bairstow, K Williamson, D Warner, M Pandey, D Hooda, R Bhui, S Goswami, Y Pathan, S Al Hassan, M Nabi, A Sharma, V Shankar, R Khan, S Nadeem, B Kumar, S Sharma, T Natarajan, S Kaul, K Ahmed, B Stanlake, and B Thampi.
