Abu Dhabi, Dec 17: 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.
Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, however, went unsold in the auction despite their good run of form with the bat.
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.
KKR’s managing director Venky Mysore said the franchise was happy at the price at which it got Green, who is expected to “add a lot” to the team in the upcoming season.
“We are very happy. Something that we were focussed on and hoping. Quite happy with price at which we got him. Would have been a concern if it had gone higher. We were keen and attached but had it affected our rest of auction, we would have let him go,” Mysore said at a press conference.
He will add lot to our team and with our new power coach Andre Russell, we know what he does, with bat and ball, couldn’t be happier.
“The rule the BCCI made on the Rs 18 crore, our standpoint is there is no concern, in any case it’s an outflow for franchise,” he added.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Green said, “I’m so excited to be part of Kolkata for this year’s IPL. To get down to the Eden Gardens, to get used to the atmosphere. I hope it is a great year for us. So see you soon. Ami KKR!”
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
Spencer Johnson remained unsold, while Anrich Nortje, who came with a base price of Rs 2 crore, was enlisted by LSG, who opened the bidding for the South Africa pacer.