England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has welcomed Ravichandran Ashwin to the Rajasthan Royals as the off-spinner was bought at a price of 5 Crores on the first day of the mega auction.
“Hey Ash, Jos here. Don’t worry I am inside the crease, cannot wait to see you in pink for the Royals. Look forward to sharing the dressing room with you.” Jos Buttler said in a video posted by Rajasthan Royals on Twitter.
To Ash, with love ?
– @josbuttler#RoyalsFamily | @ashwinravi99 | #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/t7LJRPPtwa
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 12, 2022
Ashwin and Buttler were famously involved in a controversial run-out in IPL 2019. When the off-spinner who was captaining the Kings XI Punjab ran Jos Buttler out at the non-striker end for backing up too far, the dismissal is popularly known as Mankading. The dismissal polarized the opinions if it is within the spirit of the game.
Jos Buttler was retained by his franchise Rajasthan Royals along with Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ravichandran Ashwin who was part of Delhi Capitals previously has been among the marquee players who was first few names on the list to go under the hammer.
Ravichandran Ashwin was previously associated with Delhi Capitals
It will be 5th IPL team for Ashwin as he previously played for Chennai Super Kings (2009-15), Rising Pune Super Giants (2016), Kings XI Punjab (2018-19), and Delhi Capitals (2020-21). The premier off-spinner has a formidable record in the league.
Making his IPL debut in 2009, Ashwin played a total of 167 games in the cash-riched league and picked 145 wickets with an economy of 6.91. Interestingly he will be partnered in the Rajasthan Royals with India’s leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as he was picked for 6.5 Crores.
Rajasthan Royals picked a total of 8 players on the first day of the auction. They got West Indies middle-order Shimron Hetmyer at a price of 8.5 Cr, they also had to spend 7.75 Cr for left-handed opening batter Devdutt Padikkal. India’s new pace sensation Prasidh Krishna cost 10 Crores to get in the Rajasthan Royals squad.
Royals won the IPL title only once. In the inaugural season, they achieved this feat under the captaincy of Shane Warne. Since then it has been a struggle for the franchise.
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