All the teams have almost filled their squad with the needed number of cricketers while going full-on competitive over a few overseas players. The West Indies bowler Sheldon Cottrell was among the top buys at the IPL 2020 auction night. However, the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) had to spend a huge staggering amount of INR 8.50 Cr. to claim Cottrell.
The left-arm pacer has given quite a wicket-taking performances that come with the package of his unique salute-celebration. The Windies star collected 12 wickets in the ICC coveted World Cup tournament that was hosted by England and Wales earlier this year. Meanwhile, in the recently-concluded West Indies tour of India, Cottrell had been consistent in plucking wickets in every match.
His usual wicket-taking capability and the very own signature celebration style has definitely turned all eyes towards him. The Caribbean pacer entered the bidding arena at the auction night with a base price of INR 50 lakh. He drew a bidding war between Rajasthan Royals and the KXIP before Delhi Capitals came in to join the game.
However, in the end, Punjab franchise secured the services of Cottrell who later became the fourth top expensive buy of the night, the first being the Aussie cricketer Pat Cummins who was sold at INR 15.50 Cr.
Kumble says, ‘Cottrell has the ability to bowl at any point during the 20 overs’
Right after the auction was over on Thursday, the former veteran Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir reckoned that the Director of Cricket for Punjab franchise went after Cottrell in dire desperation. Gambhir said the best ones, Pat Cummins and Chris Morris were already sold out and with seemingly fewer options available, KXIP went for Cottrell at a higher price than he was worth.
However, Anil Kumble himself came forth and had clarified why the franchise went all out for the Windies pacer. Kumble has claimed that Cottrell’s agility in the game, the fearless attitude and the ability to bowl at any point in the 20 overs game is what makes him worth it.
“We know that Cottrell doesn’t shirk away from having a competition with the opposition, he is in the batsman’s face all the time. he has different variations and we were looking for a left-armer with that kind of ability and that’s why we chose him. He’s someone who can bowl anywhere in the 20 overs & that’s the ability we were looking for. I think with him coming into the squad it gives us a balance with someone like Mohammed Shami, a senior Indian fast bowler in the squad,” Anil Kumble told CricketNext.
Anil Kumble further said that Sheldon Cottrell’s salute celebration was also something that the franchise wanted to see in every game.
“So, it’s not just on the field that he brings that quality but off the field as well. I mean with his salute, which is now really famous. So we hope to see, at least from a King’s XI perspective, we want to see a lot more salutes every game in this IPL,” said Anil Kumble.
Apart from Cottrell, KXIP has bought the Aussie cricketer Glenn Maxwell for a whopping of INR 10.75 Cr as the most expensive player for their squad. KXIP now has the complete squad size of 25 members with eight overseas players and 16.50 Cr still in their purse.