Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), his old team, for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Auction for the new season of IPL took place on Thursday afternoon, and Shakib was listed in the second set. Shakib's base price was INR 20 million.
KKR bid first for Shakib at his base price, but Punjab Kings raised the bar to Rs 22 million. But KKR bid again with Rs 24 million and Punjab raised it to Rs 26 million. And finally, KKR bid again with Rs 32 million for Shakib, reports UNB.
Shakib had previously enjoyed himself at KKR, winning two titles for them. He also played for Sunrisers Hyderabad for two seasons.
Overall, Shakib played 63 games in IPL and amassed 746 runs with 59 wickets. He has always been one of the best all-rounders of this T20 league.
He missed the IPL 2020 when he was out of all cricketing activities due to a two-year ban, with one year suspended, slapped by the ICC for failing to report corrupt approaches made by bookmakers.
Shakib returned to competitive cricket with the Bangabandhu T20 Cup later last year but his less-than-impressive performance was a shadow of his former self. He scored only 110 runs and bagged six wickets in nine games.
But he emerged the man of the series in his comeback ODI contest against West Indies last month. In the three-match series, he bagged six wickets with a four-wicket haul and 113 runs with a fifty.
He also hit a fifty in the first Test against West Indies in Chattogram, but due to a groin injury, he had been ruled out of the series after the first innings of that match.
Meanwhile, along with Shakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mushfiqur Rahim, who announced himself available for auction later, are also part of this auction.
Mustafizur was picked by Rajasthan Royals during the player auction.
He was listed in set four of players’ auction and his base price was Rs 10 million. Rajasthan secured his service at the base price.
The left-arm pacer debuted in IPL in 2016 after his heroic entry into international cricket in 2015. In his debut season, Mustafizur bagged 17 wickets for SRH and won the emerging player of the season award.
