West Indies all-rounder, Romario Shepherd became the latest Indian Premier League (IPL) millionaire after being bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad on day two of the auction yesterday.
Shepherd entered at a base price of 75 lakh with Lucknow Super Giants signaling their intention to secure the Guyana Amazon Warriors all-rounder with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings pushing their bid past 2.4 crore.
Sunrisers then entered the auction to propel the bid to 4 crore with Rajasthan Royals competing in a three-way tussle. Royals eventually placed a bid at 7.5 crore before Sunrisers secured the 27-year-old for 7.75 crore, equivalent to USD 1.03 million.
Shepherd’s Amazon Warriors and West Indies teammate, Odean Smith, was also in the money after being snapped up by Punjab Kings for 6 crore or (USD 800,00). Smith was caught in the middle of a bid battle between Kings, Super Giants and Sunrisers with Kings eventually acquiring his services for six times his base price.
Meanwhile, Shepherd’s countryman, Sherfane Rutherford, who was part of Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in previous seasons, was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 1 crore (USD 133,000).
Fabian Allen was sold to Mumbai Indians while Rajasthan Royals grabbed Obed McCoy for their base price of 75 lakh (USD 99,000). Rovman Powell was bought by Delhi Capitals for 2.8 crore (USD 372,400) while Alzarri Joseph (2.4 crore or USD 319,200) and Dominic Drakes (1.1 crore or USD 146,300) were secured by Gujurat Titans.
Super Giants ensured Evin Lewis joined their squad for 2 crore (USD 266,000) and Kyle Mayers for 50 lakh (USD 66,000).
The first day also saw Shimron Hetmyer, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran being purchased.
Among the West Indian players that went unsold were Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase, Kennar Lewis and Akeal Hosein.
