South African batsman Rilee Rossouw was sold for Rs 4.6 crore to Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL auction 2023.
He had gone unsold in the first round of the auction.
Rossouw has had an interesting career, where he has always been on the periphery of eminence, but never quite made it to the circle until his thirties. His IPL career started back in 2011, when Royal Challengers Bangalore signed him for approximately Rs 92 lakhs.
After not making any appearance in his initial stint, Rossouw was re-signed by the same franchise in 2014, this time as a replacement for Nic Maddinson. Over the next two seasons, the South African batter played five matches, but could only score 53 runs with the highest score of 24. An average of only 10.60 and a strike rate of 103.92 was not enough to avoid the axe.
However, his ‘second innings’ with South Africa helped Rossouw regain his lost stature. Since his T20I return in July, the 33-year-old has scored a couple of half-centuries against India and Bangladesh, and also played a stunning 55-ball 96 against England.
As for his career T20I numbers, the Bloemfontein-born player has scored 699 runs in 24 T20I innings, at an average of 36.78 and a commendable strike rate of 156.02.
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