"I'm really looking forward to starting a new chapter."
The 2022 IPL auction has come to an end after two days of intense bidding.
The cricket community witnessed many surprises as the teams clashed in a unique battle to grab the best players for their sides ahead of the new season.
A total sum of Rs. 551.7 Crore (£53.9 million) was spent to seal the deals of 204 players.
This included 137 Indians and 67 overseas players.
One hundred and seven have played for their countries while 97 are yet to make their national team debuts.
One of the biggest surprises was Jofra Archer to Mumbai Indians for £782,000.
It raised eyebrows because he is recovering after elbow surgery and is unlikely to play the 2022 IPL season.
In a statement, Archer said: “It [Mumbai] has been a franchise that was really close to my heart and I always wanted to play for them as long as I could have remembered watching IPL cricket.
“I’m so glad that I’ve finally got the opportunity to represent such an amazing franchise.
“I’m also going to get the chance to play with some of the biggest stars in the world so I’m really looking forward to starting a new chapter.”
Mumbai also got hold of Tim David for £811,000.
Sachin Tendulkar’s son, Arjun, joined Mumbai for £29,000.
But the biggest buy of the auction was Ishan Kishan to Mumbai for £1.5 million.
Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings splurged on Deepak Chahar for £1.37 million.
The most expensive overseas buy of the IPL auction was England all-rounder Liam Livingston when he went to Punjab Kings on the second day for £1.25 million.
Punjab Kings beat off bids from Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad to land Livingston, whose price rocketed compared to last year following a breakthrough 12 months.
The franchise’s head coach Anil Kumble was pleased with the results of the auction.
He said: “To get some great players in the line up like Rabada, (Jonny) Bairstow and Dhawan along with Mayank (Agarwal).
“Young players like (Rahul) Chahar, (Harpreet) Brar, Arshdeep (Singh)… now Livingstone and Odean, really exciting talent, is really good.
“To get back Shahrukh (Khan) is wonderful. Obviously, we wanted to have a few more who played for us.”
Meanwhile, Avesh Khan became the most expensive uncapped Indian player after Lucknow Super Giants signed him for £978,000.
Lucknow Super Giants fought off bids from Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad to acquire Khan’s services.
Here's a look at the Top Buys of what has been an eventful #TATAIPLAuction 2022 ??@TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/vnFMj1NKj9
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 13, 2022
Titans quickly snapped up David Millar for £293,000, Wriddhiman Saha for £185,000 and Matthew Wade for £234,000.
Meanwhile, Knight Riders made Sam Billings their wicketkeeper for £195,000.
Chris Jordan went to the Super Kings for £350,000.
The likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were retained by Mumbai and Super Kings, respectively.
Moeen Ali was also retained by Super Kings while Jos Buttler returns to Rajasthan Royals for another season.
However, big names like Ishant Sharma, Eoin Morgan, Marnus Labuschagne and Aaron Finch remained unsold.
Aman Khan was the last person sold at the IPL auction, going to the Knight Riders for £19,000.
The stage is now set.
The players know what teams they represent and what their roles are.
The excitement continues to roar as we gear up for an all-new season of the Indian Premier League which starts later in 2022.
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