IPL 2017 auction: Gujarat Lions draft in Manpreet Gony, Nathu Singh

Amidst a gruelling Indian Test season, the much-awaited auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 started to trend across social media platforms. From sold players to unsold ones, Richard Madley and his antics kept Twitter and Facebook feeds abuzz. Cricketers — sold and otherwise — kept hitting headlines. All in all, the cash-rich IPL has been keeping everyone busy on a blue Monday. And so has been the case for Gujarat Lions (GL). For that matter, they have Suresh Raina at the helm — the Indian cricketer who had even led India and has been the most consistent batsman in the tournament in its nine-year history. LIVE News and Updates from Indian Premier League 10 auction

Already boasting a star-studded side, the owners Intex Technologies retained as many as 16 players. And why would they not, if they boast of the might of Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner and Aaron Finch, among others? However, as the owners have been taking a leaf out of Rajasthan Royals’ book ever since they won the inaugural edition, GL’s main focus was on buying quality Indian cricketers — especially bowlers — considering they have enough batsmen and all-rounders in their armoury. So far they have bought Nathu Singh, Manpreet Gony, Tejas Baroka, and Basil Thampi.

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To put things into perspective, the team rather focused on cricketers’ performances in the domestic T20 tournaments. Thampi, who was bought for INR 85 lakhs, is a medium-pacer and averages 22.19 from 23 T20s including a four-wicket haul. On other hand, Nathu Singh, who was released by Mumbai Indians, was bought for INR 50 lakhs.

Gony, who was MS Dhoni’s new-ball bowler in the first edition (and played for India shortly afterwards), pocketed INR 60 lakhs, while Baroka was bagged for INR 10 lakhs.

Squad (overseas cricketers are underlined): Suresh Raina (c), Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pradeep Sangwan, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Suresh Raina, Jaydev Shah, Brendon McCullum, Andrew Tye, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, Ishan Kishan, Shivil Kaushik, Nathu Singh, Manpreet Gony, Tejas Baroka, Basil Thampi.