Published: Feb 19, 2015, 05:25 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 19, 2015, 05:25 AM (IST)
Australian bowler Gurinder Sandhu was one of the nine Australian players to be picked by franchisees in the 2015 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction held on February 16 in Bangalore. A total of 37 Australians were put under the hammer and only nine were bought.
The 21-year-old’s base price was Rs. 30 lakhs and he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a whooping Rs. 1.70 crores after a bidding war.
“I just put my name down and thought alright, hope for the best and let’s see what happens. I had no idea that was going to happen,” said Sandhu after acquiring his maiden IPL contract in a report on cricket.com.au.
Sandhu’s new teammates include South Africans Quinton de Kock, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy along with Indians Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Shami plus Yuvraj Singh who yet again recorded the highest bid, this time going further with Rs. 16 crores (last season he was bought for Rs. 14 crores by RCB).
Sandhu is looking forward to meet Zaheer, he said, “I loved watching him bowl. Especially when he had the white ball reverse-swinging. He was a genius. Hopefully he has a few tips that he can pass on to me. I’ll have a few questions for him.”
Sandhu who made his One-Day International (ODI) debut last month, received the good news after NSW’s crushing Sheffield Shield win over Victoria. “We’d just come off after the game. One of the coaches Trent Johnston was on his phone following it. I didn’t expect it at all. I was pretty excited,” Sandhu added.
Sandhu starred for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, taking eight wickets at an average of 17.38 under the guidance of IPL rival Mike Hussey. But he heaped praise for his Thunder team-mate Jacques Kallis, “I’ve learned to always back yourself, no matter what you do or what you’re thinking. If you have mixed thoughts and mixed emotions about what you’re trying to do, it might be the next ball or field placements it’s not going to happen. He (Kallis) said to choose and think whatever you want to do and 100 per cent back yourself at that and stay at it,” concluded Sandhu.
