Out of favour Bhuvneshwar leads Indian pacers' 'Pay Day' at auction

PTI Jeddah: Out of national reckoning for more than two years, Bhuvneshwar Kumar's experience was in demand among the IPL franchises with Royal Challengers Bengaluru buying him for Rs 10.75 crore as lesser-fancied Indian fast bowlers hit pay dirt on the second day of the mega auction here on Monday. The Mumbai troika of Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane along with New Zealand stars Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips were among the unsold players. Bhuvneshwar, who will be 35 before the start of next IPL, has 300 wickets from 287 career T20 games and an economy rate of less than eight.

But he last played for India during a tour of New Zealand in November 2022 and is considered well past his prime at the international level. However, with at least three Indian pacers needed per team, the pool is not large enough to ensure equal distribution among the 10 teams. Therefore, an out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar, an injury-prone Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore for Mumbai Indians) and a Test reserve Mukesh Kumar (Rs eight crore RTM by Delhi Capitals) got good deals on the second day when franchises came with leaner purse after splurging away on Sunday. Akash Deep, the Test pacer, got a Rs eight crore deal from Lucknow Super Giants. What works for Chahar and Bhuvneshwar is their ability to swing the white ball in Powerplays. Mukesh has takers for his wide yorkers at the death.