Millionaire Mills shocked by IPL windfall

"I had to pinch myself a bit, but nothing's kind of real yet, nothing's happened so I'll keep enjoying it, enjoy the moment and hopefully more good things will come. It changed my life this morning," Tymal Mills said.

Published : Feb 21, 2017 01:25 IST

England T20 bowler Tymal Mills was bought for £1.4million by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
England T20 bowler Tymal Mills was bought for £1.4million by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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England T20 bowler Tymal Mills was bought for £1.4million by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Tymal Mills said he had to pinch himself after he was purchased for a life-changing figure of £1.4million in the Indian Premier League auction.

Mills, who has represented England in four Twenty20 internationals – including three in last month's limited-overs tour of India – after being forced to end his first-class career due to a chronic back injury, was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc's withdrawal.

That in itself was not a huge shock, but significant surprise was generated by the fee the 24-year-old commanded – one of the highest in IPL history.

Fellow England international Ben Stokes, who was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for £1.7m on Monday, is the only foreign player to have drawn a bigger fee.

Referring to his retirement from the first-class game in 2015, Mills told Sky Sports News : "You definitely wouldn't have thought, fast forwarding two years, that this would be where I'm at now.

"I had to pinch myself a bit, but nothing's kind of real yet, nothing's happened so I'll keep enjoying it, enjoy the moment and hopefully more good things will come. It changed my life this morning."

Asked whether he expects other cricketers to focus solely on T20 in a bid to earn lucrative deals, Mills said: "Obviously it will be a lot tougher for guys who are able to play all forms. I went to breakfast with [former England all-rounder] Luke Wright this morning and he said my back injury has kind of ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me.

"It's hard for other guys to just stop playing other forms of cricket when they currently are. I was obviously forced into the situation, but I'm sure it won't be too long down the line before you'll get younger guys specialising in playing T20, yes."

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