The mini-auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 took place in Dubai on Tuesday, December 19. This time, there was a notable presence of a woman, Malikka Sagar, during the auction proceedings. However, an error occurred during the auction that resulted in a loss of Rs 20 lakh for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The mistake happened when bidding was underway for West Indies star fast bowler Alzarri Joseph.
Alzarri Joseph had a base price of 1 crore rupees and was eventually bought by RCB for a bid of 11.50 crores. With this acquisition, Joseph becomes the second most expensive West Indian player in the IPL, trailing only Nicholas Pooran, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 16 crores in IPL 2023.
The bidding for Joseph began with a warning from Chennai Super Kings, but competition emerged from Delhi Capitals, and later, Lucknow Super Giants and RCB joined the fray. The bidding continued until it reached 6.40 crores, causing a brief pause before resuming.
During this time, Mallika made a significant mistake. After a brief pause in bidding, RCB once again initiated the bidding. However, in the next bid, Mallika was supposed to quote 6.60 crores, but she mistakenly quoted 6.80 crores. The bidding continued until it reached 11.50 crores, where it finally halted. While RCB successfully acquired Joseph, they incurred a loss of 20 lakhs due to Mallika’s error.
Such errors have been witnessed several times before. Similar mistakes occurred in the previous auction as well. It is worth noting that Joseph has previously played for Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans.
In the auction, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has shattered all records, becoming the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, acquired Starc for a whopping 24.75 crore rupees. Prior to this, in the auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad had purchased Australian team captain Pat Cummins for 20.50 crore rupees.