It was a magical night, rather late midnight for the New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson as his name came up in the auction for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Jamieson, who has had a sensational start to his international career after making his debut against India in 2020, was touted to be one of the biggest buys before the auction because of his ability to bowl fast and use the long handle.
It was a strange night for the 26-year old Kiwi quick, who will be playing his first IPL as he kept waiting for his name to come up in the auction. The auction started at around 10.30 PM in New Zealand. By the time his name came, it was 1.30 AM, at late midnight Jamieson was well awake only to see Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) jostling to get the 6'8" pacer in their side. RCB left everyone behind in the race to bid the highest for him at INR 15 crores.
When the dust had settled, Jamieson reflected on the gamut of emotions he went through. Speaking to stuff.co.nz, Jamieson said, "I woke up around midnight and decided to check the phone. Rather than trying to avoid the situation, (I thought) I'll sit back and enjoy it. It was certainly a weird hour and a half waiting for my name to be called up."
"I had a message from Shane Bond (former New Zealand pacer and Mumbai Indians bowling coach) as it was going and he said, 'How good is this'.
"I didn't actually know what the amount of money was, how that translated to New Zealand dollars. It was quite cool to share that moment with him and ride that two or three minutes with him."
Jamieson, who is currently with the Blackcaps for the five-match T20I series against their trans-Tasman rivals Australia, didn't know how to experience what he was going through. "I actually called my partner and actually woke her up. She was asleep. I then called mum and dad, they were up as well. I did that, then turned the phone off and tried to get some sleep."
'Coffees and beers'
The amount roughly translates to $2.86 million in New Zealand dollars. Asked what he'll buy with the money next, Jamieson said it would be some coffees as his bank account may not have changed overnight.
"Probably a few coffees I would have thought," he said when asked about his next purchase. "I don't know. It's only been a few hours. My bank account hasn't changed overnight, but there'll be a bit of stick given and a few coffees and a few beers I'm sure.
Jamieson, who became the fourth most expensive player in the IPL player auction ever, after Chris Morris (INR 16.25 crores), in the very same auction, Yuvraj Singh (16 crores) by Delhi Daredevils in 2015 and Pat Cummins (15.5 crores) by Kolkata Knight Riders, didn't really know at that moment that how things changed for him, admitting that the expectations will only rise.
"To be fair, I don't think a whole lot changes to me. "I accept that there will be expectations but that's been the case the whole time I've played. I think it's such a special tournament, obviously the biggest franchise tournament around. There's so many cool experiences to be had over there and learning opportunities. That's the thing that excites me the most is being able to rub shoulders with these guys. It's such a unique situation for us as cricketers and to be able to do that is something pretty special."
RCB was on a money-splurging spree as, before Jamieson, the franchise also bought the Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for an amount of INR 14.25 crores.
