Having groomed left-arm pacer Jaidev Unadkat during his coaching stint as the bowling consultant with Kolkata Knight Riders, legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram wanted to retain the promising youngster for the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) - and had his wish fulfilled.
Knight Riders shelled out $250,000 to bag the Saurashtra player and Chief Executive Officer Venky Mysore revealed that Akram is "excited" to have him in the side.
Unadkat,19, made his Test debut against South Africa in the first Test at Centurion last month.
"We are very happy to have Unadkat. In fact, it is Akram who is very excited to have him. I think he (Akram) has produced him (Uandkat) for India," Mysore said.
Knight Riders, who were among the bottom-placed teams in the first three editions, have strung together a strong-looking squad for this season.
"We had a strategy in place. We wanted firepower in batting and a balanced attack. Right now each player in our line-up can contribute with the bat, we have an exciting team in place. That is what we were looking for," Mysore said.
Knight Riders bought the most expensive player in the auction Gautam Gambhir ($2.4million), big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, experienced Jacques Kallis and Brad Haddin, speedster Breet Lee, talented England batsman Eoin Morgan and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who has been a consistent performer with the ball for Chennai Super Kings.
{{/usCountry}}Knight Riders bought the most expensive player in the auction Gautam Gambhir ($2.4million), big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, experienced Jacques Kallis and Brad Haddin, speedster Breet Lee, talented England batsman Eoin Morgan and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who has been a consistent performer with the ball for Chennai Super Kings.
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