We'll be resuming the auction with the Wanindu Hasaranga bid. To refresh, he was at a whopping 10.75 crore bid with RCB, the franchise he played for in the second half of IPL 2021.
Why so high? Matt Roller, who tracks T20 better than franchise scouts, has an answer:
Matt Roller weighs in on the frenetic bidding for Hasaranga: "The depth of India’s spin-bowling talent means that it is rare for an overseas spinner to spark a bidding war at the IPL auction but Wanindu Hasaranga has proved an exception. The bidding had reached Rs. 10.75 crore when the auction was paused, which would be a record fee for a Sri Lankan player.
Hasaranga, the legspinning allrounder, made his international debut as a teenager back in 2017 but has taken his game to another level in the last 18 months. His MVP-winning performances took Jaffna to the title in the inaugural LPL and he starred in T20Is: nobody took more wickets in 2021 and he was the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup in the UAE.
Hasaranga’s biggest strength is his googly, which is particularly hard to pick due to his loose grip: 15 out of his 16 World Cup wickets were from googlies. His collapsed front leg also gives him an unusually low release point and he has excelled bowling in all three phases of a game.
He played two games for RCB as a replacement for Adam Zampa in the UAE leg of IPL 2021, going wicketless and conceding 60 runs in six overs, but they are willing to pay over the odds to get him back. He is a livewire fielder and a handy batter - Sri Lanka used him as a floater in the World Cup - so helps balance the side. Notably, both RCB and Punjab Kings - then Kings XI Punjab - were involved in a bidding war for Rashid Khan, another sought-after overseas spinner, in the 2018 auction before Sunrisers Hyderabad used their right-to-match card."
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