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Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
New Zealand’s Kane Williamson was selected at the IPL auction by the Gujarat Titans.
Kane Williamson is still a wanted man for the Indian Premier League, even if his asking price has tumbled.
The Black Caps Twenty20 and ODI skipper was purchased by the Gujarat Titans on Friday night (NZ time) for the 2023 season of the world’s richest domestic cricket competition.
Williamson, who had been dumped by his previous IPL francise Sunrisers Hyderabad after eight years, was the first player to be picked up in the auction for his base price, set pre-event, of INR 2 crore (about NZ$386,000).
The 32-year-old was quickly replaced at Sunrisers Hyderabad by the next selection at the auction, with rising England batter Harry Brook part of a bidding war that was eventually settled for a massive fee of 13.25 crore (about NZ$2.5 million).
That was just under the 14 crore (about NZ$2.68m) the Sunrisers paid to retain Williamson for this year’s tournament, before releasing him in November.
NZ Cricket
Black Caps coach Gary Stead, new test captain Tim Southee, former skipper Kane Williamson and NZ Cricket boss David White at Thursday’s announcement.
England left-arm quick bowler Sam Curran, who starred as part of the recent T20 World Cup-winning side, was in greater demand on Friday, eventually going to the Punjab Kings for 18.5 crore (NZ$3.5 million).
Former England captain Joe Root and South African top-order batter Rilee Rossouw were both unsold in the first set of the auction.
Williamson played 76 matches for the Sunrisers, and captained them 46 times, scoring 2101 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 126.03. However, 2022 was a struggle for him.
Nursing his troublesome elbow injury, he managed just 216 runs in the IPL this year, at 19.63 and a strike rate of 93.50 – the lowest strike rate for any batter in the tournament who faced at least 100 balls, as his side finished eighth of 10 teams for a second year running.
Jimmy Neesham, Adam Milne, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi and Scott Kuggeleijn were the other New Zealand players up for grabs at the auction.
Who are the New Zealanders retained ahead of next season?
Lockie Ferguson (traded from Gujarat Titans to Kolkata Knight Riders)
Tim Southee (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Devon Conway (Chennai Super Kings)
Mitchell Santner (Chennai Super Kings)
Finn Allen (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Glenn Phillips (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Trent Boult (Rajasthan Royals)
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