The opening day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction saw quite a few players bagging million-dollar contracts while some prominent names missed out to attract any franchise. The likes of Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar and Shreyas Iyer grabbed the headlines by becoming the costliest buys in the bidding event. On the other hand, IPL veteran Suresh Raina and Australian batting phenom Steve Smith didn’t find any buyer.
One of the major eye-catching moments in the mega auction occurred when Rajasthan Royals (RR) roped in senior Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The Tamil Nadu cricketer, who was released by Delhi Capitals (DC), was bought for a sum of INR 5 crores by the 2008 IPL winners.
Ashwin’s inclusion in the RR’s set-up triggered the social media as fans started wondering what would be the scenes when Ashwin joins the squad, which already has England wicket-keeper batter Jos Buttler.
Notably, Ashwin and Buttler share the infamous incident in 2018 when the right-arm spinner had ‘Mankad’, the English cricketer. No wonder fans recalled the incident and conjectured whether there would be some banter between the two stars.
However, the Royals’ CEO, Jake Lush McCrum, made it clear that everything is going to be alright between Ashwin and Buttler. McCrum revealed that the RR management had spoken to Buttler about Ashwin and the England star had no problem whatsoever.
“We spoke to Jos prior to the auction and just talked through all of our prioritization of players. Honestly, he didn’t even think about it (his run out by Ashwin at the non-striker’s end in 2019). I had to sort of bringing it up just to check it was okay. And he said, ‘it’s absolutely fine,” said Royals CEO McCrum during the press conference.
“Maybe he will have to practice in the nets with him. But otherwise, on the field, they’re looking forward to playing together,” he added.
