Rajasthan Royals snapped up West Indies T20I captain Rovman Powell for a whopping Rs 7.40 crore in the opening bid of the IPL 2024 Auction. He was the first player to go under the hammer at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders were the first team to bid for Powell before Rajasthan Royals jumped in the race. The two teams were then involved in an intense bidding war before the Royals secured Powell.
Former India captain and ex-coach of Kings XI Punjab, Anil Kumble said he was not surprised that the Royals went all out for Powell.
“RR don’t need any bowlers and they needed an overseas batter who can finish games to complement Hetmyer. They wanted some solidity and Powell gives RR the batting hold in the side,” Kumble told Jio Cinema soon after the first round of the auction.
Former England captain and former captain of Kolkata Knight Riders also rationalised the RR bid for Powell.
“Powell solidifies the RR middle-order. He will fit into any middle-order and there are no surprises that two IPL teams who have CPL teams went toe-to-toe to bid for Powell,” Morgan said on Jio Cinema.
Rovman Powell played for Delhi Capitals last year but he did not play a lot of games because the side wanted to focus on the all-round skills of Mitchell Marsh. Powell’s batting might help the Royals find more solidity alongside another West Indies superstar Shemron Hetmyer.