IPL 2019 Auction: Carlos Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer fetch big bucks

Carlos Brathwaite and Shimron Hetmyer continued the West Indies domination of the IPL Auctions as they were snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Brathwaite, whose base price was Rs 75 lakhs, went to the two-time IPL champions for Rs 5 crore while Hetmyer, who hit a century and fifty in the first two ODIs against India, was picked up by Virat Kohli’s franchise for Rs 4.2 crore.

Brathwaite heads to the franchise which will play their games at the Eden Gardens. It was at this venue in 2016 during the World T20 where he hit Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes to help West Indies beat England and win the title for the second time. Hetmyer was expected to fetch big bucks due to his dazzling batting and he went for a big sum to Royal Challengers Bangalore, the three-time finalists in the tournament.

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West Indies players continued to dominate the IPL auction when Nicholas Pooran, the young West Indies keeper who has had a good run in the Caribbean Premier League, was picked up by the Kings XI Punjab franchise for Rs 4.2 crore.

Brathwaite had earlier played for Sunrisers Hyderabad where he chipped in with some useful contributions while Hetmyer will play in the IPL for the very first time. Nicholas Pooran, on the other hand, has had previous experiences in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, will play for a different franchise.

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Brathwaite will join Sunil Narine as the other West Indies player in the Kolkata Knight Riders Franchise while Hetmyer will be aiming to replicate the heroics of Chris Gayle, who scored plenty of runs and shattered some records for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 2019 edition of the tournament might be played at the end of March and could be played overseas as the tournament could clash with the Indian General Elections which will be held between April and May.