Ravindra Jadeja joined the IPL’s million-dollar club on Saturday with the Chennai Super Kings signing him up for a whopping $2 million after an intense bidding war with the Deccan Chargers that resulted in the tie-breaker clause coming into play at the auction in Bangalore.
According to The Indian Express, the bidding for the Saurashtra all-rounder was frenetic and involved four franchises prepared to shell out their entire purse to gain his services, with the two-time defending champions eventually pipping the Hyderabad team to the post. “While Jadeja was expected to be the story of the auction, Saturday threw up one big surprise. R Vinay Kumar, for one, would have seemed the unlikeliest of the Indian fast bowlers in the fray to be bought for a seven-figure price. And more so after RP Singh, among the highest wicket-takers in IPL history, had gone for a comparatively measly $600,000 to the Mumbai Indians. But despite lacking the wicket-taking ability of RP or the theatrical skills of Sreesanth — who was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for his base price — it was Vinay Kumar who got a million-dollar contract from the Royal Challengers Bangalore,” says the report.
Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh has said that he will draw inspiration from cycling champion Lance Armstrong to battle his lung tumour. He is now in the US undergoing treatment. According to the Gulf News, Singh’s much anticipated return to cricket will hence be delayed further. Yuvraj said that he was reading Armstrong’s book-It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life and hoped to be motivated enough to pull through is current illness.
Coming to domestic cricket, Wriddhiman Saha, whose assured 35-run effort in the Adelaide Test appeared gigantic in the midst of an all-round failure, used the small dose of confidence in notching up a fine hundred against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal. According to Hindustan Times, Saha looked compact during his unbeaten knock as East Zone ended Day One at 258 for four.
“He proffered his front foot as and when required and used his feet well on a batting track that would, at times, get two-paced. Besides, he handled the rising balls well, an ability, he admits, he acquired in Australia,” writes HT.
