As the Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 threw many surprises, one of the biggest shocks came when Rajasthan Royals (RR) roped in Ravichandran Ashwin. The franchise has already retained Jos Buttler for the upcoming season and the infamous Mankad incident involving the two cricketers is still fresh in the memories of the fans.
For the unversed, Ashwin and Buttler engaged in a heated on-field moment in the 2019 edition of the cash-rich league. The match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals garnered controversy as the off-spinner mankaded the English wicket-keeper. The incident caught many eyeballs then as the cricket fraternity got divided.
Now that both Ashwin and Buttler will represent the same IPL team, it will be quite a thing to see. Welcoming the Indian cricketer, Buttler shared a cheeky message, saying that he is inside the crease. Further, the Englishmen added that he is keen to share the dressing room with Ashwin.
“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,” Buttler said in a video message posted on Rajasthan Royals’ Twitter account.
To Ash, with love ?
– @josbuttler#RoyalsFamily | @ashwinravi99 | #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/t7LJRPPtwa
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 12, 2022
Rajasthan Royals form a strong squad for IPL 2022
RR had a busy Day 1 at the auction table. They splurged a huge amount of money to acquire the services of Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer, buying the players for Rs. 10 crore, Rs. 7.75 crore and Rs. 8.5 crore respectively.
Ravichandran Ashwin was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 5 crore, while Rs. 3.80 were spent to rope in Riyan Parag. Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and KC Cariappa were sold for Rs. 6.5 crore and Rs. 30 lakh respectively. The franchise bid heavily for Trent Boult and eventually got the Kiwi pacer for Rs. 8 crore.