IPL 2022: 'I think the monetary value is irrelevant' - Punjab Kings' ₹11.5 crore buy dismisses weight of big price tag
IPL 2022: Punjab Kings shelled out ₹11.5 crore on the big-hitting batter, who has weighed in on whether the big price tag will affect him in any way.
The Punjab Kings is one of the three teams from the very first edition of the IPL that is yet to win the title. The closest they came was eight years ago in IPL 2014, where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. Among all the previous eight franchises, PBKS were the only franchise to retain only two players – Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh – before the auction but managed to put together a strong squad at the mega-auction. (Also Read: IPL 2022 Full Coverage)
Under head coach Anil Kumble and captain Mayank Agarwal, PBKS would like to end their title drought when they begin their IPL 2022 campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Sunday. PBKS' playing XI will require some thinking as they've got a pool of promising players to select from.
However, one player that will be the cynosure of all eyes will be England's big-hitting all-rounder Liam Livingstone. He was picked by PBKS for ₹11.5 crore and the franchise would be hoping he does justice to all that money. Two days ahead of PBKS' game against RCB, Livingstone weighed in on whether the big price tag will affect him in any way.
"We are picked as cricketers to come in and do our jobs, which is to score runs and take wickets and catches. So I think the monetary value is irrelevant. I've played in the last couple of years for not a lot. The IPL is the biggest tournament in the world and I’m just really excited to get going," he told Sports Tak.
Livingstone was the fourth costliest buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction behind Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians), Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings) and Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders), but the England all-rounder insists that the hefty tag of 11.5 crore isn't affecting him in the build-up to the season.