Australia’s Glenn Maxwell was among the most expensive player at the IPL 2020 auction on Thursday (December 19).
Maxwell, who had represented Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2014, 2015 & 2017, is set to join the franchise once again after they fetched him for a hefty sum of INR 10.75 Crore.
Having entered the auction with the biggest available purse of INR 42.70 Crore, KXIP also spent 8.50 Crore on West Indian pacer Sheldon Cottrell.
See Also: Anil Kumble signed Sheldon Cottrell in 'desperation' for KXIP, says Gautam Gambhir
After the auction got over, Kings XI head coach Anil Kumble explained why the franchise went all out to secure the services of Maxwell.
“For us, the gaps that we had to fill were pretty evident. We had to fill the fast bowlers slots and also the powerhitters because for us, in the middle order we needed someone who could really be a destructive player and that’s why we chose Glenn Maxwell,” Kumble quoted as saying by PTI.
“Of course all-rounders are a blessing, if you can get one. And we were lucky to get (Jimmy) Neesham, (Sheldon) Cottrell and (Chris) Jordan. Obviously, the choice or the money that we had to spend was more on the four foreign players,” he added.
On buying young pacer Ishan Porel for his base price of INR 20 lakh, Kumble remarked: “The idea was to have an Indian fast bowler. Ishan has done really well in domestic cricket. He is someone who we had identified and he’s I think a good backup for Mohammad Shami both come from the same Ranji team (Bengal).”
In the middle of the auction, KXIP also named K L Rahul as their skipper for the 2020 edition. The Karnataka batsman has been the top-scorer for the team for the past two editions.
Rahul was bought by the franchise in 2018 for INR 11 crores and he justified the huge bid by slamming 659 runs in IPL 2018 and followed it with 593 runs in IPL 2019.
“I think we have seen one of the best captains in Indian cricket being a wicketkeeper and batsman (MS Dhoni). I think we also have Nicholas Pooran in the team so yes I mean still a few months before we sit down and identify who’s gonna keep wickets,” Kumble said referring to the wicket-keeping options, Rahul and Pooran.
(With PTI inputs)
