Rachin Ravindra will be donning Chennai's yellow this IPL 2024 season as the MS Dhoni-led franchise have bagged the young Kiwi's services in the auction, for Rs 1.80 crore.
The Kiwi all-rounder had slotted his base price at Rs 50 lakh and it was Chennai Super Kings who opened the bidding for him. Delhi Capitals then raised it by another Rs 5 lakh as the two teams then went into a face-off to get the 24-year-old into their squad.
The bidding hit Rs 1 crore with Chennai Super Kings when Punjab Kings entered and made it Rs 1.10 crore. Chennai though immediately raised their paddle in rebuttal and went onto make Rachin their first buy of the 2024 auction.
Ravindra garnered accolades from all over the world for his remarkable performances during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
In what was his debut World Cup appearance, he finished as the fourth-highest run scorer after amassing 578 runs in 10 innings, including three hundreds and two half centuries. With the ball, the 24-year-old is just as efficient and is capable of taking crucial wickets with his left-arm orthodox spin.
With 145 T20I runs and 11 wickets under his belt, and having already demonstrated his ability to play with the bat on Indian pitches, Ravindra can emerge as a vital cog for his side.
A total of 333 players are going under the hammer in Dubai during the 2024 IPL auction, of which 214 are Indians and 119 are overseas cricketers.
However, the 10 teams together have only a maximum of 77 slots open, with each team allowed a roster of a maximum of 25 players.
23 players registered their base price at the maximum of Rs 2 crore with another 13 slotting themselves in the Rs 1.5 crore base price.
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