Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doll has been slyly sarcastic on Australian players signed in large quantities before IPL 2021. In the recently concluded auction, Dole described him as ‘second class’ when compared to the unseen New Zealand cricketers.
Simon Dole’s remarks came after New Zealand’s emphatic win over Australia in the first T20I of the 5-match series on Monday.
The Kiwi team set a commendable target of 185 runs on a green wicket. The batting effort was led by 29-year-old Devon Conway, who completed his 99-run innings to New Zealand 19–3 to 184–5. In response, the Australian team collapsed for just 131 runs in 18 overs.
Lauding Conway, Ravichandran Ashwin tweeted that Southeastern’s innings was delayed by four days (IPL auction 2021 held on February 18). To this, Simon Doll replied:
“NZ players have consistently been ignored for second-class Australian players in the IPL for years.
Notably, 8 players were included in the Australian XI for the game, who are set to play for various IPL teams in the upcoming season. The highest profile among these names was that of Glenn Maxwell, who was auctioned for Rs 14.25 crore. Went to
Maxwell came in to bat at number 5 in the match – the position that would most likely be held at Royal Challengers Bangalore – but he was dismissed for 1 for only 5 runs. Playing with his open stance, the right-hander could not negotiate Tim Southee’s swinging delivery and converted it into a second slip.
How did other IPL players from New Zealand and Australia perform in the first T20I?
Other headlines featured in the first T20I include Kyle Jamison (INR 15 crores to RCB), Jhe Richardson (INR 14 crores for Punjab Kings) and Jimmy Neesham (INR 50 lakhs for Mumbai Indians).
Jameson, despite taking the crucial wicket of Mitchell Marsh, was well ahead in his line and length and was the most expensive (ER 10.7) among New Zealand bowlers.
Meanwhile, Jhe Richardson was influential. The 23-year-old took 2 wickets and conceded just 31 runs from his 4 overs. Jimmy Neesham also performed better with the bat in the entire IPL 2020, scoring an important 26 runs off 15 balls.
Devon Conway, along with other New Zealand veterans such as Martin Guptill, Ish Sodhi, Glenn Phillip, and Tim Southee, had registered for the auction, but no takers were found.
Kiwi players still have a chance. If they can perform consistently well in the remaining four matches, they can be called as replacements for injured or unavailable players before and during the IPL season.
Published on 22 February 2021, 20:48 IST
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