IPL 2018 | An out of cash KXIP almost lost out on Chris Gayle in the auction

Chris Gayle has set this season of the Indian Premier League on fire. Playing for Kings XI Punjab, he has struck a couple of fifties and a blistering ton in the four games he has played. However, all this came after he went unsold in the first two rounds of the auction. Towards the fag end of the auction, he was picked by Kings XI Punjab at his base price of Rs 2 crore. However, KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia revealed that they got lucky with the big West Indian. 

“We had only Rs 2.1 crore left and if we had bid for Chris earlier (at the auction) and another team came up with a counter bid, we did not have the money to buy him. Luckily, no other team bid for him and we were more than happy to get third time lucky,” Ness Wadia was quoted saying by CricketNext. 

KXIP went into the auction with a purse of Rs 67.5 crore after retaining only Axar Patel before the auction. However, they went ahead and spent big money on some of the players as Chris Gayle was their last buy in the auction and walked out of the event with just Rs 10 lakh. KXIP are having an exceptional season as they have won five games out of their seven. A change in captaincy has certainly worked very well and Ravichandran Ashwin has brought some fresh and innovative ideas. The KXIP co-owner admitted that they wanted to heavily invest in an Indian captain. 

“We wanted to build a team for the long term. We wanted to spend more money. We wanted an Indian captain and to be honest we wanted Ashwin at any cost. He is a genius and knows what it takes to win (having won IPL at CSK twice). We were very clear that if we spent the money we would get what we were looking for. That was the difference with the old strategy. Bringing an Indian captain also brings in a lot of flexibility,” Wadia said. 

Yuvraj, who was the other star player sold at his base price (Rs 2 crore) has been in poor form. He returned to his first franchise, Punjab, and much was expected of him but he has scored just 50 runs in 4 innings and was eventually dropped in KXIP’s last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

“Yuvi is not among the runs at the moment but we hope that he will bounce back. He is of good value to the franchise and that is why we got him back,” the 45-year-old added. 

Over the years, the IPL has certainly evolved and Wadia feels that on the financial front, it is finally making sense. 

“Finally, it is making sense (financially) after 10 years. It has been a long wait. The most important thing is when we got into the IPL the focus was on to promote sport. IPL has led to the emergence of cricket leagues around the county. I am so glad about that. It has given the players a career option. It has led to leagues in other sports too,” Wadia further said. 

He also felt another tournament like the IPL in a smaller version could be beneficial.

“There has to be more international matches (for the teams), more exposure. If you include the pre-season camp, we get about an eight week period in one year. A second tournament or a smaller tournament outside India would be very beneficial for everyone,” the KXIP co-owner opined.