Picture Courtesy : IPL
In a stunning turn of fortune, South African speedster Morris surpassed Yuvraj Singh to become the most expensive buy in the Indian Premier League auction history with Rajasthan Royals shelling out Rs 16.25 crore for the South African all-rounder.
At the auction being held in Chennai , Morris’s big pay day came after another all-rounder and perennial under-performer, Australian Glenn Maxwell, once again managed to attract a winning Rs 14.25 crore bid from Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Morris, who came with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, generated bids from four teams before it became a battle between Royals and Punjab Kings.
How’s that for numbers ??
Here are the ?5️⃣ buys in the @Vivo_India #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/SPagm8laZo
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 18, 2021
Royals eventually sealed it with a record bid which made Morris the costliest buy at the auction ever, surpassing Yuvraj Singh, who was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 16 crore in 2015.
The costliest player in the IPL remains Virat Kohli, retained for Rs 17 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In 70 IPL games, Morris has scored 551 runs at 23.95 and taken 80 wickets at 23.98.
England all-rounder Moeen Ali also went for a high price of Rs 7 crore to Chennai Super Kings. Both Maxwell and Moeen had base prices of Rs 2 crore.
Bangladesh’s number one star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was lapped up by KKR for Rs 3.2 crore. He missed the IPL last year as he was serving a ban for failing to report a corrupt approach.
Australian Steve Smith, who was released by Rajasthan Royals, was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 2.20 crore, only Rs 20 lakh more than his base price.
