Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra reckons a purse of INR 520 crore would not have been enough if Jasprit Bumrah had entered the mega auction. Bumrah was retained for INR 18 crore by Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Meanwhile, all 10 franchises had a purse value of INR 120 crore before the retentions. Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history when he was bought for INR 27 crore by Lucknow Super Giants. However, there is no doubt that Bumrah could have easily fetched more than INR 30 crore if he had entered the mega auction.
Bumrah has been in sensational form and led from the front in the opening Test match against Australia at Perth in the absence of full-time skipper Rohit Sharma. The gun fast bowler returned with match figures of 8-72 and thus bagged the Player of the Match for his fine spells in both innings as India registered a massive win of 295 runs, which is their largest win in Australian conditions.
Ashish Nehra said on Star Sports, “It was good to see a captain leading from the front knowing what happened in the previous series against New Zealand. If Bumrah had come to the mega auction, even a purse of INR 520 crore would have not been enough for the franchises.”
“Bumrah has done it numerous times. He was leading the side as Rohit Sharma was not there, and he was under pressure. But Bumrah handled everything, and he should be praised for it,” he added.
After Bumrah’s heroics, the ace pacer climbed to the numero uno position in the ICC Test rankings.
The second Test match between Australia and India, which will be a pink-ball game, will be played at Adelaide Oval from December 6 onwards.
