(CMC) – West Indies stars Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer have landed lucrative million-dollar deals on the first day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction here yesterday.
The 26-year-old Pooran, a flamboyant left-hander, attracted the highest-ever bid for a West Indies player when Sunrisers Hyderabad paid US$1.43 million for his services.
Holder, meanwhile, a former Test captain and one of the world’s leading all-rounders, was bought by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants for US$1.16 while Hetmyer, an attacking left-hander, was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for US$1.13 million.
The trio were among four West Indians sold yesterday, with recently retired marquee all-rounder Dwayne Bravo heading back to Chennai Super Kings for US$585 200.
Both Pooran and Holder featured in the three-match One-Day International series against India in Ahmedabad recently when West Indies suffered a 3-0 whitewash, and are also set to line-up in the three-match Twenty20 International series in Kolkata beginning Wednesday.
Ironically, Pooran’s deal comes following a wretched campaign in last year’s IPL when he scraped 85 runs from 11 innings.
However, the Trinidadian has averaged 31 and struck two half-centuries in 13 T20 Internationals since then, keeping himself in the crosshairs of global franchises.
“I’m very thankful. I can’t wait for that journey to begin,” Pooran said.
“But before that journey begins, I just want to give thanks to Cricket West Indies for laying the foundation for my career and I hope a lot of youngsters get that opportunity as well.
“Continue to support me in my future endeavours and my cricket career.”
Holder was outstanding for Sunrisers last season, leading the franchise with 16 wickets at an average of 15 and an economy rate of just under eight runs per over.
The 30-year-old also weighed in with the bat at key moments and coupled with his recent performances for West Indies that have yielded 16 wickets from eight appearances at an average of 14, Holder was always expected to attract attention.
“I’ve been purchased by Lucknow Super Giants in this year’s IPL auction. I look forward to this opportunity …,” Holder said.
The 25-year-old Hetmyer averaged 34 for Delhi Capitals last season and was the shining light for West Indies at last year’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates with a superb unbeaten 81 against Sri Lanka.
However, the Guyanese has not featured at international level since, missing the tour of Pakistan last December, the series against England in the Caribbean last month and the tour of India earlier this month.
The 38-year-old Bravo, who retired from international cricket following the recent T20 World Cup, turned out for CSK last season and grabbed 14 wickets with his medium pace.
This year’s IPL bowls off in April.
How teams stand at the end of Day 1
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande (Players bought: 10. Budget remaining: 20.45 crore. Overseas players: 2)
Delhi Capitals: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashwin Hebbar (Players bought: 13. Budget remaining: 16.50 crore. Overseas players: 4)
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Jason Roy, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad (Players bought: 10. Budget remaining: 18.85 crore. Overseas players: 4)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy (Players bought: 9. Budget remaining: 12.65 crore. Overseas players: 3)
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood, Ankit Rajpoot (Players bought: 11. Budget remaining: 6.90 crore. Overseas players: 4)
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, M Ashwin, Basil Thampi (Players bought: 8. Budget remaining: 27.85 crore. Overseas players: 2)
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel (Players bought: 11. Budget remaining: 28.65 crore. Overseas players: 2)
Rajasthan Royals: Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, R. Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, KC Cariappa (Players bought: 11. Budget remaining: 12.15 crore. Overseas players: 3)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep (Players bought: 11. Budget remaining: 9.25 crore. Overseas players: 4)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi, T Natarajan, Umran Malik (Players bought: 13. Budget remaining: 20.15 crore. Overseas players: 2)
