Every Auction of the Indian Premier League ( IPL ) creates History and raises the bar. The one on the 19th of December 2023 was no different. Owners opened up their coffers, bid belligerently, grappled with one another nonchalantly, as the moolah flowed uninterrupted. Players gained in the melee, some expected, some surprising and some out of the blue. New benchmarks were created, new fables written and a lot many dreams realised.
Its A Starc & Cummins Show
Mitchel Starc and Pat Cummins the fast bowling duo and vital members of the Australian World Cup-winning team swept the auctions raking in some serious money and shattering records in the process. Starc outpaced his captain Cummins with 24.75 crs from KKR with Cummins getting 20.5 crs from Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Australians becoming the most expensive overseas players in the history of IPL. The quick bowling department of both KKR and a beleaguered SRH will get a boost. However, the form of both of these brilliant bowlers in the T20 will be subject to much scrutiny when the IPL arrives. SRH further strengthened their batting with Australian Travis Head, the World Cup Hero, by picking him for a decent ( I was expecting much more ) 6.8 crs—a good buy indeed for SRH.
The Ones Who Caught My Attention
Three players have captured not only my attention but that of the cricketing world. These three uncapped players, very young and hardly heard of, saw Franchises fighting out for them and doling out money with gay abandon. Kumar Kushagra the wicket-keeper batsman from Bokaro, just 19, with a base price of just 20 lacs was bought by Delhi Capitals for 7.2 crs. Rajasthan Royals spent 5.8 crs on uncapped Shubham Dubey, a hard-hitting batsman with some stellar performances in domestic T20 tournaments. But it was CSK who went all out for the gifted batter Sameer Rizvi. The 20-year-old from Meerut fetched an impressive 8.4 crs.
Unearthing Indian Talent
With not many matches under their belt, these three lads have been picked purely based on the talent they possess, the potential they carry and the ability to make a defining impression on the big stage. The scouts of the IPL franchises, who travel across the country in search of talent to be picked by their owners, need to be complimented too. Their hard work is slowly turning into a bedrock of nurturing talent and making them available for National duties. Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Siraj and so many others are prime examples of the contribution IPL has made to Indian Cricket.
IPL : An Incredible League
IPL has ensured that if you have talent, can work hard and persevere with a zeal to compete, you will be able to carve a future for yourself. Hours and hours of practice, missing school time, being away from parents and even taking a bit of stick from them at times, will not go waste. IPL has evolved into the finest Cricket League in the world and make no mistake it is on its way to being there at the top with Football Leagues too.
Fulfilling Dreams
Sameer Rizvi, Kumar Kushagra and Shubham Dubey are bound to inspire a thousand cricketers if not more and make them dream because IPL is there to fulfil them.
What a Story !!
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Featured Image : Sameer Rizvi from Meerut picked up by CSK for 8.4 crs