da heads bet： What the players thought of how much they sold for in the IPL auction
da realsbet： 26-Feb-2008
‘Mate, they love me in India’ © AFP
“I was not surprised by this amount. I have been around for quite a while and the only player to have scored a century at the Twenty20 international level, and this is probably what assisted me in gaining such a good price.”
“I thought I might have been able to attract a little bit more than that. The fact I haven’t made a lot of runs over the last couple of weeks probably hasn’t helped much. But realistically we as Australian players probably won’t be able to take part in the first couple of years of the event anyway… I could end up being the bargain buy of the tournament, you never know.”
“If I could tell you why, that would probably be quite a good news story, but there is no sort of logical sense to what each player is worth … I can’t see a pattern… That’s what they offered to pay for me. I didn’t ask for it.”
“I don’t know what I have been offered for playing in the IPL, but if it is low compared to the other players, I think it will get better the next time as then the player’s performance in the league matches will also be taken into account.”
“It was indescribable. I got told and then sat and said, ‘Are you taking the mickey out of me?’ They said it was genuine… it’s just remarkable. It’s very flattering… He [Mike Hussey] actually sent me a text message this morning and said, ‘I can’t believe you’re worth double what I am’.”
“Because it was the first time, there was uncertainty about the figures so I had no idea what I’d sell for… I was obviously blown away, and having slept on it, it’s a great feeling and it’s nice to get the recognition.”
“I was expecting nothing like what I went for. Dan [Daniel Vettori] was first up and I was happy for him. I was hoping I’d be somewhere close to him, I always thought he would be top dog.”
“I am pleased to get picked up. I saw the amounts of money being thrown around and I thought: ‘Wow, I hope they keep trading.’ It was incredible to be involved in.”