Shepherd enters million-dollar club, Smith lands lucrative payday
BENGALURU, India (CMC):
ROMARIO SHEPHERD joined the million-dollar club at the Indian Premier League after Sunrisers Hyderabad picked up the Guyana and West Indies all-rounder on the second day of the mega auction on Sunday.
The 27-year-old, who has played just 14 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), sparked a bidding war before Sunrisers beat challenges from Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals, in a deal worth US$1.03 million.
Shepherd was one of several West Indies players to find franchises, with fast bowling all-rounder Odean Smith, batsmen Rovman Powell, Evin Lewis and Kyle Mayers, fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph, Dominic Drakes and Obed McCoy, along with left-arm spinning all-rounder Fabian Allen, also seeing lucrative deals.
Barbados-born England pacer Jofra Archer also tasted a million-dollar payday thanks to Mumbai Indians, while Chris Jordan, another Barbados-born England international, went to Chennai Super Kings for US$478,000.
There was no such luck for West Indians Akeal Hosein, Kennar Lewis, Roston Chase and Sheldon Cottrell, all of whom went unsold.
It was Shepherd who snatched a share of the headlines from the upscale affair in the southern Indian city, tasting his first overseas franchise contract.
A sharp fast bowler and a powerful lower-order striker of the ball, Shepherd has had limited opportunities at the international level but did enough to get the attention of scouts.
His unbeaten 44 from 28 balls against England last month nearly earned West Indies an unlikely victory in the second T20I, the innings coming on the heels of a rapid half-century against Ireland a week earlier.
Shepherd also shone in last year’s Caribbean Premier League with 18 wickets for Guyana Amazon Warriors but was then snubbed by selectors for the Twenty20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.
Smith, meanwhile, was handed the opportunity to flaunt his skills for Punjab Kings when they claimed him for US$800,000, edging out Super Giants, Sunrisers, and Royals, all of whom chased the Jamaican’s services.
The 25-year-old Smith, with eight T20Is and five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) under his belt, is inexperienced at the international level but has already showcased his impressive skills with electrifying cameos against India in the just-concluded ODI series and against Ireland last month.
Rovman Powell was bought by Delhi Capitals for US$373,000 while left-handed opener Evin Lewis went to Super Giants for US$266,000 despite not playing international cricket in nearly four months.
Joseph (US$320,000) and Dominic Drakes (US$146,000) were picked up by new franchise Gujarat Titans, McCoy joined Shimron Hetmyer at Rajasthan Royals for US$100,000 while Allen was nabbed by Mumbai for also US$100,000 and Mayers went to Super Giants for US$66,000.
On Saturday’s opening day of the mega auction, the West Indies trio of Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer also landed million-dollar contracts.
The 2022 edition of the cash-rich IPL is set to bowl off in April.