Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) most expensive buy in the IPL 2021 auction, Australia pacer Jhye Richardson might make his much-awaited IPL debut on April 12 when PBKS plays Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their opening match of IPL 2021 in Mumbai.
All eyes will be on the 24-year-old who returned successfully from a back injury and proved his mettle in the BBL 10. In an exclusive interview with Sports Today, Richardson has talked about his price tag and how it has changed his life.
"It's quite scary. It did not hit me straight away. I was actually watching the auction in New Zealand, it was quite late at night. It probably did not hit me straight away. It's a funny one because you know that it's gonna change your life. It's life-changing.
I was overwhelmed by the fact that this is going to change my life. For me, it wasn't a jump up and down and get really exciting moment, it just did not hit me straight away and even now it's hard to comprehend how much it is and how much it's gonna influence my future,” Richardson said.
He added that he was not going to worry about the money invested in him as his sole focus will be on showcasing his skill in front of India.
"That's what we look as a cricketer, we have a front-end earning capacity and you know our career might live 5 or 10 years but to have something like this and have financial security post cricket is the biggest relief for me.
Obviously the added pressure and the expectation, all the challenges we expect in cricket anyway. For me now it's not to worry about the price tag, it to worry about my own execution and my own skills and show all of India what I am capable of,” he added.
Jhye Richardson has appeared in 2 Tests, 13 ODIs, and 14 T20Is for Australia thus far.
(India Today inputs)
