IPL Auction: Powell moves to Rajasthan for whopping sum, SRH breaks bank for Head

Powell, who set his base price at Rs 1 crore, received the opening bid from Kolkata Knight Riders.

Dubai: West Indies power hitter Rovman Powell went for a whopping sum, while Australia’s destructive opener Travis Head found himself a new home in Sunrisers Hyderabad as a direct replacement for Harry Brook.

Powell, who set his base price at Rs 1 crore, received the opening bid from Kolkata Knight Riders. Rajasthan Royals jumped in and competed for Powell. Powell captained Barbados Royals in the CPL and ended up walking away with a whopping sum of Rs 7.4 crore.

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Kolkata bid hard but Rajasthan edged past them to acquire the services of the batter. The WI T20I skipper has featured in 66 T20Is, scoring 1,202 runs at an average of 26.71 and a strike rate of above 143, with a century and five fifties.

Head, who produced remarkable performances in the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup final earlier this year, was one of the names with a hefty price tag.

Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad were engaged in a fierce bidding battle. However, Head became a part of the Orange family for a price tag of 6.8 crore. On the other hand, former SRH player, Harry Brook was acquired by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4 crore, unlike his previous hefty price tag of Rs 13.25 crore.

The young right-handed batter has represented England in 27 T20Is, scoring 531 in 25 innings at an average of 27.94 and a strike rate of above 145, with two half-centuries. He had an underwhelming IPL last season with Sunrisers Hyderabad after being bought for Rs 13.25 crores, scoring just 190 runs in 11 matches at an average of 21.11, with one century.

Overall in 125 T20s, he has scored 3,019 runs at an average of over 33 and strike rate above 150, with three centuries and 11 fifties. South Africa’s experienced batter Rilee Rossouw didn’t find any team that was willing to meet his base price of Rs 2 crore.