One of the big stories from the first day of the IPL 2022 mega-auction was that Ravichandran Ashwin will now be sharing the dressing room with Jos Buttler as India’s premier off-spinner was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for a price of INR 5 crore.
This has got the fans buzzing as Ashwin and Buttler have a history. An angry, intense fall-out happened between the duo when Ashwin, bowling for Punjab Kings, had mankaded Buttler during an IPL 2019 game.
Buttler was clearly unhappy with Ashwin’s act and had a furious chat with the off-spinner. The rules did allow Ashwin to mankad any batter who is backing up outside the bowling crease. Buttler was deemed out by the umpires and was fuming on his way back to the dressing room.
Fans and experts were split on this controversy; most of the English and Australian former cricketers thought Ashwin’s act of mankading was against the ‘Spirit of the Game’, while the Indian fans and experts sided with the off-spinner, pointing out that Ashwin was well within the rules to run out Buttler at the non-striker’s end.
Now, when Ashwin was bought by the Royals, the champion off-spinner soon posted a video in which he thanked the franchise and their fans; he also mentioned that he’s looking forward to sharing the dressing room with Jos Buttler.
Welcoming Ashwin, Buttler also came up with a video in which he delivered a hilarious punchline: “Hey Ash, Jos here. Don’t worry, I am inside the crease. Can’t wait to see you in pink for the Royals. Look forward to sharing a dressing room with you. Halla Bol.”
To Ash, with love ?
– @josbuttler#RoyalsFamily | @ashwinravi99 | #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/t7LJRPPtwa
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 12, 2022
Speaking about the Royals, the inaugural champions were active in their bidding on Day 1 of the mega-auction.
Apart from buying Ashwin for 5 crore, they spend 8 crore on Trent Boult, 8.5 crore on Shimron Hetmyer, 10 crore on Prasidh Krishna, and 7.75 crore on Devdutt Padikkal. There were a couple of steals also: Yuzvendra Chahal for 6.5 crore and Riyan Parag for 3.8 crore.
Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, KC Cariappa [Players bought: 11. Budget remaining: 12.15 crore. Overseas players: 3]
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