File photo of CSK cricketer Robin Uthappa
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer Robin Uthappa has made some strong statements about Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions and the way they have been conducted over the years. Uthappa, who was bought by CSK for his base price of Rs 2 crore at the recently held mega auction in Bengaluru, said he felt like “cattle” going to an IPL auction and also compared it to waiting for the results after an investigation”. Uthappa went further, even advocating a concept system rather than the usual way of buying players.
“The auction feels like an exam you wrote a long time ago, and you just wait for the results. You feel like cattle (commodity), to be honest,” Uthappa said in an interview with news9live.
The batter’s right hand explained what goes through a cricketer’s head when his name is auctioned, which he says isn’t the most ‘pleasant feeling’.
“It’s not the most pleasant feeling, and I think that’s the thing with cricket, especially in India … everything about you is there for the world to consume and then judge and express their opinion on. An opinion having an opinion about gigs is one thing, but having an opinion about how much you’re being sold for is quite another,” he added.
The 2007 T20 World Cup winner also explained how difficult it will be for a cricketer to know where he stands as a player, as the IPL auction usually determines the amount of money someone is willing to spend on the cricketer.
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“You can’t imagine what the guys who don’t sell go through. It can’t be pleasant. My heart goes out to guys who have been around for a long time and then miss something and not get picked. It can be beat sometimes. your value as a cricketer about how much someone is willing to spend on you, and it’s so haphazard…there’s no method for the madness people have tried their best to kind of struggle around it for the last 15 years, and I don’t know if they have a clue because if you talk to a lot of people who’ve been to the auction they’ll say ‘you know it’s so random… if you came later’ I probably would have made more money. ..if you had come earlier there would have been enough money, so you would have earned more.’ I really hope for the common sense of everyone that this ends up in a draft system more respectful.”
Uthappa played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and also won the IPL in the past with Kolkata Knights Riders and with CSK last season.
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