In Jeddah, IPL franchises have spent with both hands at the mega auction, as on day 1 of the event, three players have already crossed the 20 crore mark. With Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, becoming the only players ever in IPL history to receive more than 25 crore for their service.
Before Pant broke the record of the highest-bidding player in an IPL auction ever, Shreyas Iyer held the record for a few minutes as he was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping 26.75 crore.
Shreyas was the third player on the list of the first group of marquee players. KKR opened the bidding process in an attempt to repurchase their title-winning skipper. However, they dropped out of the auction at 10 crore, leaving DC and PBKS to compete for Shreyas, as both teams needed a captain. PBKS, with a budget of INR 110.5 crore, emerged victorious in the race of getting Shreyas Iyer by paying 26.75 crore.
The head coach of Punjab Kings, Ricky Ponting, seemed very keen to get Shreyas Iyer during the bidding process. The delight of getting Iyer into his squad was clearly visible in Ponting’s face.
“I haven’t spoken to him yet; I tried to call him before the auction, but he didn’t pick up,” Ponting said when asked if Shreyas would be the new PBKS captain. “He’s been a successful captain in IPL before; I worked with him for 3-4 years in Delhi, and he was the championship winner last season. I’m delighted to work with him again; if he can do that for us in the IPL, I’ll be pretty happy.”
Ponting has been a huge admirer of Shreyas Iyer and rated him very high from his Delhi Capitals days. This is the second time that Shreyas and Ponting will work as a team of coach and captain in IPL.
Read More: Rishabh Pant Breaks IPL Records for Most Expensive Player, Went to LSG for 27 Crore
