Rajasthan Royals Lead Owner Manoj Badale expressed disppointment after his side could not buy England pacer Jofra Archer during the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2022, mega auctions.
Archer was picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 8 crore on Day 2 of the IPL mega auction here in Bengaluru. The England pacer will not be available for IPL 2022 season, and he would only start playing for the franchise from the next season.
"It's obviously disappointing to lose out on a player like Jofra. He's been an integral part of our team for the past few years and grew in stature with us. But if we had gone on to retain him at Rs 9 crores, we wouldn't have been able to build the squad we have now. However, he was always on our list even though we knew he was injured for this year. We pushed as hard as we could and went all the way for him, but unfortunately lost out to a team with a larger purse. We wish Jofra the very best in his recovery and for the future," stated Manoj in an official release.
The Lead Owner also said that he is pleased with the inclusion of Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell into the RR squad.
"I think it was a key phase for us, towards the end, to secure their signings. Jimmy and Nathan are particularly experienced when it comes to the IPL, and we feel they will add a lot of value to our side. Rassie and Daryl, as we've seen, can be extremely effective and are really exciting cricketers. So we're really happy to have them all in our team," said the Lead Owner.
"In terms of having a solid base, we are absolutely happy with the purchase of Navdeep Saini. He's an experienced player and has been regularly plying his trade with the Indian team as well, so he compliments the other experienced bowlers," he added.
IPL 2022, mega auction took place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13. Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, and Shreyas Iyer were among the top picks of the mega auction.
Meanwhile, India batter Suresh Raina, Australia batters Steve Smith and Aaron Finch, and New Zealand opener Martin Guptill remained unsold in the mega auction. Indian pacer Ishant Sharma also could not find any buyers and went unsold.
( With inputs from ANI )
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