Vizag cricketer KS Bharat went unsold in the first round of the IPL 2020 Auction, being held in Kolkata. The wicket-keeper batsman, who has been impressing with consistent performances in domestic cricket, entered the auction with the minimum base price of Rs. 20 lakh. Although, he could reappear in the later stages of the auction if any franchise asks for him.
The 26-year-old rose to fame when he became the first wicket-keeper batsman to score a triple hundred in Ranji Trophy while representing Andhra Pradesh in 2015. KS Bharat was eventually roped in by the IPL team Delhi Daredevils at his base price of Rs. 10 lakh.
Earlier this year, when India took on Bangladesh in its maiden Day-Night test at Kolkata, Bharat was drafted into the squad as a backup for the regular wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha. Before that, he played for India Blue in the 2018-19 Duleep Trophy. Bharat has scored 9 centuries in his first-class career so far and 3 list-A hundreds.
Youngsters Ricky Bhui and Prithvi Raj are the other promising talents from Vizag who will be going under the hammer this year.
The IPL 2020 Auction saw intense bidding battles as Australian speed gun Pat Cummins became the highest overseas signing in the league’s history, bought by KKR for Rs 15.5 crores. Other big buys in the auction so far include Glenn Maxwell (KXIP), Chris Morris (RCB), Sheldon Cottrell (KXIP), Nathan Coulter-Nile (MI), and Shimron Hetmyer (DC) among others. Indian players Piyush Chawla (CSK), Varun Chakravarthy (KKR), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) were among those who struck big.
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