After the completion of the Mega Auction, the fans are curiously waiting for the Indian Premier League to start. As many as 200 players were sold during the mega-event and the fate of many players ebbed and flowed as the franchises made their bids. Avesh Khan, who was an integral part of the Delhi setup last year, had to bid goodbye to the franchise as he was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants for a staggering INR 10 Crore.
The right-arm fast bowler made waves with his performance in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League and emerged as the second-highest wicket taker with 24 wickets for the Delhi Capitals. However, as fate would have it, the bowler was bought by the Lucknow franchise and Avesh shared that when he heard the amount, he froze for 5 seconds.
Avesh Khan shared an emotional moment with Pant
The Indian team is gearing up for the T20 series against West Indies which will start on 16th February and will take place in Kolkata. Avesh Khas was travelling with the squad when the auction was happening and he couldn’t get the live updates. The bowler expected a maximum of INR 7 Crore; however, he was surprised to see his value going up to INR 10 Crore.
“I was on the flight at that time and I had expected I would get at least seven crores. I was feeling a bit nervous thinking which team would pick me and for how much. Upon landing when I got to know that Lucknow bought me for 10 crores, I froze for five seconds. But then things became normal, I was like okay,” shared Avesh talking to Sportskeeda.
After Avesh Khan was taken by Lucknow, Rishabh Pant, who was Avesh’s skipper in the last season had an emotional moment with the bowler. Both of them have known each other since their U19 days and Avesh shared that he would miss the company of Ricky Ponting and Pant. Rishabh Pant even apologized for not being able to onboard Avesh for the 2022 season.
“I would miss them [Ricky Pontin & team] a lot because I had an emotional connect with the Delhi Capitals. After our flight landed in Kolkata, I met Rishabh outside and he held his arms wide open for giving me a hug. He told me, ‘Sorry, le nahi paye’ (sorry we couldn’t buy you). When I watched the auction later, I saw that they did place a final bid for me at 8.76cr, but Lucknow eventually bid the highest. So, it was a very emotional moment with Rishabh,” Avesh added.