In a recently concluded 2 day Auction in Bengaluru, uncapped players were the talk of the room.
Newly added franchise Lucknow Super Giants bid the highest for an uncapped player in the history of IPL.
Avesh Khan with a base price of ₹20 lakh was sold for a whopping ₹10Cr making him the richest uncapped player to date.
Team mentor Gautham Gambhir sheds his views on the decision that is highly being criticized or being termed as “heavily overpriced”.
Gambhir said Avesh is a unique player and said that Lucknow can build the franchise around him.
“We did go for Prasidh Krishna till INR 9.5 crore. He was always in the scheme of things. But we couldn’t have got any further. When we couldn’t get Prasidh, Avesh was the last in that rank who could bowl quick, so we had to go harder for him,” Gambhir said on Xtra Time.
“I know some people say that we overpaid certain players but in Avesh’s case, he’s young and can bowl quick. He’s someone you can build the Indian bowling with, and build the bowling department for the future. While people only talk about the present, we thought about the future as well. How many people who are that young can bowl 145 and can also bowl at different stages of the game?”
Gambhir also said had he been the captain he would have been happy with the Arsenal at his disposal.
“Imagine if Holder and Wood bowl alongside him and you put in Stoinis, it would give you a good balance. If I was captain, it would’ve made me very happy,” said Gambhir.
“Avesh is someone we thought we could build the franchise with, alongside Ravi Bishnoi.”
The 2022 season will have 10 teams battling it out for the prized possession, playing 2 games each. The tournament is rumored to commence from 30th March. Official dates are yet to be confirmed.
