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IPL Auction: Meet Richard Madley, who will once again sell world’s top cricketers

The IPL 2018 auction will see 578 players going under the hammer, on January 27 in Bengaluru.

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Richard Madley © Getty Images
Richard Madley © Getty Images

Though Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 is still a month and a half away, the player auction scheduled for Monday has set the ball rolling for the 10th season of the popular tournament. The entire cricket fraternity will come to a standstill on February 20, when 352 players will go under hammer to have a pie of world’s richest Twenty20 (T20) tournament. Fate of some top cricketers like Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan among others will hang in balance. They will, with bated breath, keep an eye on the proceedings, especially a small hammer held by a certain Richard Madley. For it is that hammer, and of course Madley, that will decide their fortunes. IPL 2017 Auction: All you need to know about auctions for IPL 10

On Monday, Madley will take the centre-stage as IPL auction goes underway in Bengaluru. A second generation auctioneer hailing from Wales, Madley has been there and done that on previous occasions too. More familiar with auctioning antiques than sports stars, Madley was brought into the world of cricket auctions by IPL founder-turned-fugitive Lalit Modi. Madley oversaw the auctions for the inaugural IPL in 2008, which was a whole new experience for him. He loved it so much so that he even famously hailed its grandeur, saying, “This is the pinnacle of auctions, not just cricket auctions but in the history of auctions.” IPL Auction 2017, Players List: Base price and complete players’ list for IPL 10 auction.

Madley is a former junior international hockey player and Surrey league cricketer. Since auctioning runs into his blood, he joined the well regarded auction house of Phillips Son and Neale in New Bond Street in 1978. His job saw him travel the length and breadth of the continent in search of the finest artwork – conducting auctions of Impressionist Art, Old Master drawings, fine jewellery and 18th century furniture. After a 20-year spell at the firm, Madley was invited to join Christie’s as President of Christie’s East, New York. It is here that his association with the world of sports first began.

Madley has conducted auctions of baseball memorabilia, as well as raised several thousand dollars for worthy sporting charities. But it was the chance encounter with cricket auctioning during IPL 2008 that saw his reputation as a sports auctioneer soar high. Never had he sold players, something which he found incredible. And by his own admission, the most enjoyable experience, which he will cherish for his lifetime, came at the very beginning, when Indian skipper MS Dhoni was picked for a whopping $1.5 million by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the inaugural auctions in 2008.

Madley returned for the IPL auction in 2011, with his reputation enhanced. The challenge was steeper this time, as he was up against a mind-boggling number for an auctioneer — 352 players for 10 teams. But he executed his role to perfection with elan. This year too, Madley faces a similar challenge, as 352 players are in fray. But numbers do not bother the man, who has been amongst them all his life. Even as the focus shifts on him, he once gears up to conduct the auction in his own inimitable style, which includes lot of wit and presence of mind to spice up a dull period during the proceedings. It can well be understood by his statement few years back ahead of an action, when to a question, his immediate response was: “Give me a Tendulkar and I’ll show you how to raise the bar.”

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