IPL 2022 Mega Auction: Punjab Kings buy Liam Livingstone for ₹11.50 crore; Ajinkya Rahane joins Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Kings won the bidding war for England's Liam Livingstone on the second and final day of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
England's Liam Livingstone became the first player to breach the double-figure mark on Day 2 of the Indian Premier League Mega Auction, fetching ₹11.50 crore as Punjab Kings won the bidding war for his signature. The franchises from Punjab, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Gujarat engaged in the bidding war for Livingstone.
Livingstone was the first player in Set 2 of the all-rounders and attracted bids from Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to star with.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) entered late but Punjab Kings bagged Livingstone in the end for ₹11.50 crore.
India's senior batter Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, was bought at his base price of ₹1 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders. The KKR would be Rahane's fifth franchise in the tournament; the player has earlier represented Mumbai Indians (2008-10), Rajasthan Royals (2011-15, 18-19), Rising Pune Supergiants (2016-17), and Delhi Capitals (2020-21).
The Day 2 of the mega auction began with teams bidding for South African batter Aiden Markram. The right-handed batter was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for ₹2.6 crore. India batter Mandeep Singh, meanwhile, was bought by Delhi Capitals for ₹1.1 crores.
However, Eoin Morgan, who had led the Kolkata Knight Riders to the final of the previous edition, remained unsold in the first round of bidding. India batter Cheteshwar Pujara and Australia's T20 World Cup-winning skipper Aaron Finch also went unsold.
Earlier, day 1 of IPL 2022 mega auction saw Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar among the top picks.
Kishan was picked by Mumbai Indians for ₹15.25 crore, while Chahar was sold to Chennai Super Kings for ₹14 crore. Iyer was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹12.25 crore. Fast bowler Avesh Khan became the most expensive uncapped player in auction history, fetching ₹10 crore as Lucknow Super Giants succeeded in his signature.