IPL auctions: Kings XI Punjab ropes in Yuvraj Singh for Rs. 2 crore

After a long time, Yuvraj Singh returned to his old franchise, Kings XI Punjab, as the India discard all-rounder was snapped up by the Punjab outfit for his base price — Rs. 2 crore.

With Yuvraj's India career as good as over, it was expected that most of the franchises would not indulge in a bidding war for the two-time World Cup winner due to his high marquee base price of Rs 2 crore.

After a long time, Yuvraj Singh returned to his old franchise, Kings XI Punjab, as the India discard all-rounder was snapped up by the Punjab outfit for his base price — Rs. 2 crore.

While Sunrisers Hyderabad decided not to use the Right to Match Card, the Preity Zinta co-owned outfit decided to get Yuvraj back into the side. In the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, Yuvraj had captained the Kings and later travelled to other franchises.

With his India career as good as over, it was expected that most of the franchises would not indulge in a bidding war for the two-time World Cup winner due to his high marquee base price of Rs. 2 crore. He had a horrible Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, where he aggregated 208 runs off 216 deliveries at a dismal strike-rate of less than 100 (96 plus).

 

Yuvraj’s sequence of scores in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy is 50 not out (40 balls), 35 not out (35 balls), 8 (16 balls), 4 (8 balls), 21 (14 balls), 29 (25 balls), 40 (34 balls), 17 (33 balls) and 4 (11 balls).

The troublesome part is that he batted in the top four on most days and never looked like in control as Punjab lost out on a spot in the final primarily due to his slow batting.

JOE ROOT GOES UNSOLD

England Test skipper Joe Root, who was a part of the auction went unsold as no franchise was keen on getting him on board for Rs. 2 crore.