… Rutherford, Paul picked up by Delhi Capitals

WHILE Guyanese Shimron Hetmyer scored big, US$588,000 to be exact, with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), his compatriots Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford were also smiling to the bank, all compliments of the Delhi Capitals when the Indian Premier League (IPL) held their auction yesterday in Jaipur.

Seventy slots were available from a pool of 351 players, with a maximum of 20 to be filled by overseas players and Hetmyer, the left-handed Guyanese batsman, was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore, joining T20 star bats Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Hetmyer, 21, has had an outstanding year in international cricket, blasting three ODI hundreds, including one on the recent tour of India where he amassed 259 runs in five matches, striking at 140.

He was also Guyana Amazon Warriors leading run-scorer in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (Hero CPL) with 440 runs, the third most in the tournament behind Colin Munro’s 567 and Glenn Phillips’ 457. Hetmyer also scored his maiden T20 hundred during that competition.

Rutherford, the hard-hitting left-hander, was bought for two crore (US$280 000) by Capitals, having risen to prominence in the Global T20 Canada earlier this year, blasting 134 not out off 66 balls in a must-win game for West Indies B against eventual champions Vancouver Knights.

He also smashed 45 not out off 13 balls, inclusive of six sixes, for Guyana Amazon Warriors against Trinbago Knight Riders in the Hero CPL at Providence in September.

All-rounder Paul, who has represented Guyana, West Indies and Guyana Amazon Warriors, was sold at his base price of US$70 000 to become Rutherford’s teammate at the tournament which is cricket’s most lucrative showpiece.

Meanwhile, fellow West Indian Carlos Brathwaite got a US$700 000 deal with Kolkata Knight Riders, where he will join Caribbean counterparts Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

Nicholas Pooran, the destructive Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper/batsman, joins T20’s leading run-scorer and century-maker Chris Gayle at Kings XI Punjab, after he was grabbed by the franchise for the same price tag as Hetmyer.

Pooran, 23, also had a fantastic Hero CPL, scoring 267 runs in 10 games, at a strike rate of 144. He also struck 18 sixes in the tournament. In the recent T10 League, Pooran was the leading run-scorer with 324 runs in nine games, at an astonishing strike rate of 245.

Rajasthan Royals have bagged the service of Windies pacer Oshane Thomas for the upcoming edition of the IPL, having picked up the Jamaican at the auction.

Thomas made his international debut during Windies’ tour of India in October and impressed with his pace, regularly clocking around 150 kmph. His senior bow came after he took 18 wickets in 10 matches during the 2018 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Thomas has taken 26 wickets from 17 T20 matches at a strike rate of 14.3 and an economy rate of 8.27.

West Indies captain Jason Holder and Trinidad and Tobago’s left-arm spinner Khary Pierre are among the group of unsold players, which includes Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Yuvraj Singh, Dale Steyn, Fawad Ahmed, Chris Woakes, Glenn Phillips and Shaun Marsh.