Shimron Hetmyer became the first big-ticket purchase at IPL 2019 Auction, fetching a winning bid of Rs 4.20 crore from Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The West Indian batsman – known to Indian audiences for his sensational hitting during the recent ODI series between the teams – found himself in a fierce tug of war in the opening half an hour of the auction in Jaipur on 18, December.
RCB were actually the last entrants during Hetmyer’s bid, with Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals initially in the fray for the 21-year-old, and Sunrisers Hyderabad taking the bid up to Rs 4 crore.
Bangalore’s first bid ending up being good enough to pick the explosive West Indian.
Hetmyer shot into the Indian mindspace with some astounding hitting during West Indies’ ODI series in India in October, smashing 106 off 78 balls and 94 off 64 balls in back-to-back games at Guwahati and Visakhapatnam
The left-hander possesses a healthy career T20 strike rate of 144, already forming a penchant of hitting sixes with ease (26 sixes in 19 T20s, 30 sixes in 20 ODIs).
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