England all-rounder Liam Livingstone on Sunday became the most expensive overseas player at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auctions. After being part of an intense bidding war among four franchises, the 28-year-old was purchased by Punjab Kings for a huge amount of Rs. 11.5 crore.
With this hefty price tag, Livingstone became the second costliest English player in IPL history after Ben Stokes, who was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 14.5 crore in 2017. He went ahead of former England captains Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff who had bagged contracts worth Rs 9.8 crore each in the second season of the cash-rich tournament.
Livingstone was the first player in Set 2 of the all-rounders on the second day of the auctions and attracted bids from Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the beginning. Later, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) showed interest for a while but in the end, it was Punjab Kings who snapped away the English all-rounder.
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While Livingstone attracted the buyers, Eoin Morgan, who had led the KKR to the finals last year, went unsold in the first round of bidding. Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who was with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021, also went unsold.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane managed to find a buyer at the IPL 2022 auctions. He was bought by the KKR at this base price of Rs 1 core. It would be his fifth franchise in the tournament as the right-hand batter had played for Mumbai Indians (2008-10), Rajasthan Royals (2011-15, 18-19), Rising Pune Supergiants (2016-17), and Delhi Capitals (2020-21).
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