The excitement around the IPL Auction 2022 had been building for weeks (Auction LIVE updates) before it began and one of the players who was certainly going to bag a massive contract was this man in the picture below. When he was released from Delhi Capitals (upon request) because they already had a captain in the form of Rishabh Pant, we knew he was going to get the big bucks come the auction.
The 27-year old from Mumbai has been around for a few years now and is also a regular feature in the national side as well. Shreyas Santosh Iyer has been scoring runs across all formats and just a day before the auction, he scored 80 in the 3rd ODI against West Indies. He has been very consistent in the IPL too, and every team with a decent enough budget had their eyes on him today.
Shreyas Iyer goes to Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2022
As expected, a tough bidding war began and to cut the story short, the war was eventually won by Kolkata Knight Riders but they did have to pay a hefty price to win this war. We’re talking about a whopping ₹12.25 Crore contract for Shreyas Iyer and he will find a new home in the IPL now. There were talks of him being one of the most expensive buys at the IPL 2022 Auction, with 2,375 runs in 87 IPL games including 16 fifties.
He was the sixth name out of the bag in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction and while everyone else was slow to begin, he had the quickest bidding taking place for him. Bangalore began the bidding for him while Delhi was the next to step in and Lucknow was also quick to enter the fray. Very soon, he became the most expensive player of the day as Kolkata Knight Riders also entered and took him past ₹10 Crore in bidding.
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There were a lot of speculations before the auction about where he would go from IPL 2022 onwards, with teams in search of a captain having him specifically in mind. RCB had just lost their captain in Virat Kohli, who said before the IPL 2021 season itself that that would be his final year as captain of the franchise. Thus, he was a good fit to make this team and they definitely showed intent in getting him!
There were further rumours that the franchise was actually keeping aside 20 Crore from their remaining purse only for Iyer. However, the rumours were put to rest as Kolkata and Gujarat were the heaviest bidders, and the former ended up winning the battle for him. Remember, they released their captain in Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik, which means he could even be their captain for the IPL 202 season.
Shreyas Iyer gets ₹12.25 Crore contract
In the IPL 2021 season, Iyer was out with injury and only managed to get 175 runs in his 8 games that year. However, he has been mighty consistent prior to that, with 519 runs, 463 runs and 411 runs in the three respective seasons prior to that. His biggest strength is his ability to read the game perfectly, and attack or consolidate accordingly. He’s comfortable batting at any point of time during an innings!
For more updates from the world of cricket and the IPL 2022 season, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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