The T20 format is often considered as a batsman’s friendly game, but in the recently concluded players’ auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, bowlers were in high demand, and franchises did not hesitate in investing big money to get the services of bowlers, especially the overseas players.
Even in the previous edition, Australian paceman Pat Cummins broke all the records after becoming the most expensive overseas buy when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought him for INR 15 core. In the 2021 season, South Africa’s bowling all-rounder Chris Morris grabbed the headlines by emerging as the costliest player after Rajasthan Royals (RR) picked him for INR 16.25 crore.
Amid all the bidding process action, England wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings, who listed himself in the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore, came up with a hilarious tweet when he went unsold in the first round of the event.
The first round saw bowlers and all-rounders getting all the attention. The likes of Kyle Jamieson (15 Cr to RCB), Jhye Richardson (14 Cr to PBKS), Riley Meredith (8 Cr to PBKS), Nathan Coulter Nile (5 cr to Mumbai Indians) were some names who created a lot of buzz.
Soon after, Billing went unsold in the initial round, and he took to Twitter to write, “My girlfriend Sarah just turns to me and goes… ‘why aren’t you a bowler?'”
My girlfriend Sarah just turns to me and goes… ‘why aren’t you a bowler?’ 🤣
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) February 18, 2021
After Billings’ tweet, the official Twitter handle of the International Cricket Council (ICC) responded by sharing the bowling stats of Billings.
The only way is up 🙃 https://t.co/PkjuRPwlXn pic.twitter.com/fY9CSi4PVn
— ICC (@ICC) February 18, 2021
A few moments later, Billings also replied, hinting that he might start bowling leg-spin soon.
Leg spin incoming 🤣👍🏼
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) February 18, 2021
However, Billings do not need to work on his bowling anymore as, in the final round of the IPL auction, Delhi Capitals (DC) secured his services at his base price of INR 2 crore. The English keeper expressed his excitement after reuniting with his old franchise.
“It’s great to be back with Delhi Capitals – that’s where my IPL journey started, spent two amazing years there. This is a squad which speaks for itself, young Indian talents – Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, to be back in the same team with those guys is incredibly exciting. Two of my good mates in Chris Woakes and Tom Curran, fellow countrymen, to join with those guys should be great. Not to mention, Ricky Ponting, heard a lot of very good things about working with him. Really looking forward to stepping up my game with a coach like that. I am really looking forward to it,” Billings said in a video shared by DC on the microblogging website.
.@SamBillings just happened to be wearing blue when we picked him up at the #IPLAuction2021 💙
Coincidence? We think not 😉
So glad to have you back 🤗#YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/1iv7yj01Gz
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 18, 2021
