England and former Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Liam Livingstone on Sunday (February 13) was picked by Punjab Kings on Day 2 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction. Livingstone was the first player in Set 2 of the all-rounders and attracted bids from Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to star with.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) entered late but Punjab Kings bagged Livingstone in the end for Rs 11.50 crore. Among England cricketers, Livingstone’s fourth now after Ben Stokes Rs 14.5 crore to Rising Pune Supergiants (2017), Stokes Rs 12.5 crore to Rajasthan Royals (2018) and Tymal Mills Rs 12 crore to RCB (2017).
Livingstone can expect to be a key part of England's plans heading into the World Cup in October, not least given his strong record (average 30.38, strike rate 138.14) across two Big Bash seasons for Perth.
Us to all the other teams bidding against us for Liam Livingstone... #TATAIPLAuction #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/wh4MgTpuF7
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 13, 2022
Meanwhile, India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, England skipper Eoin Morgan. Australia skipper Aaron Finch went unsold in the first round of bidding. The Day 2 of the mega auction began with teams bidding for South African batter Aiden Markram.
The right-handed batter was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 2.6 crore. Also, India batter Mandeep Singh was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.1 crore.
Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2022 mega auction saw Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar among top picks. Kishan was picked by Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 crore, while Chahar was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 14 crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders bought Iyer for Rs 12.25 crore and on the other hand, Avesh Khan became the most expensive pick among the uncapped players after being bought for Rs 10 crore by Lucknow Super Giants.
(with ANI inputs)
