In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction, the newly formed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought Indian bowler Avesh Khan for an amount of Rs100.00 million. The bowler was released by Delhi Capitals (DC) after IPL 2021.
After LSG’s successful bid, Khan became the most expensive uncapped pick in IPL auction history. The 25-year-old shattered the previous record of Rs 9.25 crore paid for Krishnappa Gowtham by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2021.
While interacting with Sportskeeda, Khan said that he was on the flight at that time and he had expected he would get at least Rs 7 crores.
“I was on the flight at that time and I had expected I would get at least 7 crores. But since I was on the flight and couldn’t watch the auction live, I was feeling a bit nervous thinking which team would pick me and for how much,” he said.
“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,” Khan added.
“Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Siraj were pulling my leg throughout the flight journey – they were just speculating how much I would go for, which all teams would be interested in me, and all that. Once we landed, the network on my phone was spotty, but then Venkatesh Iyer broke the news to me,” he said.
“Everyone clapped for me on the flight, that was a very special moment. As soon as my network became available, I continuously started receiving calls, WhatsApp messages,” he added.
“I would miss them [Ricky Ponting and Co.] 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 added.
“He told me, ‘Sorry, le nahin paye’ (sorry we couldn’t buy you). Because, they weren’t left with a huge purse and had players to buy as well. When I watched the auction later, I saw that they did place a final bid for me at 8.75cr, but Lucknow eventually bid the highest. So it was a very emotional moment with Rishabh; we have played Under-19 together, we always sit together after matches, hangout together,” Avesh further added.
