Head coach Anil Kumble welcomed the arrival of West Indies fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, after a relatively successful Indian Premier League player auction for the Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.
While Kumble's team effectively lost South African batsman David Miller to the Rajasthan Royals, they gained Maxwell and Cottrell to support the outright markets that have KXIP to win the 2020 IPL. Kings XI Punjab to win the title are among the most popular IPL bets at the moment, including Bet365's 9.00 (8/1).
“We have done well because we had more than 50 percent of our money coming into the auction. We have done well because we've got whatever we wanted. With the World Cup in October, it's a good platform for Maxwell to come here,” said Kumble.
Individual markets for the IPL's best batsman or bowler haven't opened yet on the best cricket betting sites, but when they do Maxwell will likely be right up there among the favourites. He is a destructive hitter in the middle order and bowls some nifty spin, which is really handy when the conditions need the pace to be taken off the ball.
“We know what he brings as a batsman, as a bowler and as a fielder. He's also a gun death batsmen. You have a price to go for, but you also want a player and fortunately for us it stopped at what we wanted – INR 10.75 crore,” added Kumble.
Maxwell was among the biggest buys at the IPL player auction, with his price second only to Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins and South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who went to the Kolata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, respectively.
IPL Auction 2020 Biggest Buys
| Player (Team) |
Price |
| Pat Cummins (KKR) |
INR 15.8 crore |
| Glenn Maxwell (KXIP) |
INR 10.75 crore |
| Chris Morris (RCB) |
INR 10 crore |
| Sheldon Cottrell (KXIP) |
INR 8.5 crore |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile (MI) |
INR 8.5 crore |
| Shimron Hetmyer (DC) |
INR 7.75 crore |
KXIP were not able to retain England all-rounder Sam Curran, though. He was bought by the Chennai Super Kings, who will be chasing a fourth title in IPL 2020.
“We had Curran last year and we wanted to bid for him. We felt that we needed to focus on Cottrell because he's a left-hander and can bowl in the death. He's a great character as well. It adds to the team culture,” concluded Kumble.
