BENGALURU: There may not have been a lot of players picked up by teams in the IPL auction here on Monday. But yes, there were some very bright spots for Karnataka and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
RCB pulled off a coup in bagging England pace bowler Tymal Mills for a whopping sum of Rs 12 crore. It was the second highest sale after Ben Stokes was sold for Rs 14.5 crore.
Mills was a good catch but there was another good buy. Karnataka Ranji cricketer Gowtham K, an off-spinner and right-hand batsman, was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore. This was from a base price of Rs 10 lakh, something to cheer about. Gowtham has done well for Karnataka on many occasions and his maiden IPL appearance is well-deserved.
“I have waited for this moment for a long time. It is hard to express how I feel now that I have been picked by an IPL side,” he said. “I saw the proceedings at home. I was not nervous in the morning and went about my routine that included a light workout. But I was nervous after the auction began because it was the first time in the IPL auction.”
Gowtham’s role model is Harbhajan Singh, who is with Mumbai Indians, and he is called ‘Bhajji’ by his Karnataka teammates.
“I’m looking forward to working with and learning from Harbhajan,” he stated.
There is also a small Bengaluru connection when it comes to Varun Aaron. Having played for RCB earlier, he was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2.8 crore. Aaron plays for Jharkhand but has studied and resides in Bengaluru.