Liam Livingstone sold to Punjab Kings for ₹11.50 crore on Day 2 of IPL 2022 Auction
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone was sold to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a whopping ₹11.50 crore on Day 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The 28-year-old hard-hitting batter had registered his name for the auction at a base price of ₹1 crore. There was some intense bidding between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and PBKS for the England cricketer. Later, Gujarat Titans (GT) also joined in. In the end, PBKS emerged the winner.
Livingstone has an excellent record in the T20 format and his reputation as a clean striker of the ball has been enhanced following his recent success. The attacking right-hander batter has featured in 164 T20 games so far, scoring 4095 runs at a strike rate of 144.49. He has two hundreds and 23 fifties to his name.
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He is a useful spinner as well, who bowls both off spin and leg spin. He has 67 scalps to his credit at a strike rate of 15.9 and an economy rate of 7.87.
For England, he has played 17 T20I so far, amassing 285 runs at a strike rate of 158.33. His best of 103 came off only 43 deliveries against Pakistan, and included six fours and nine sixes.
He was also the leading run-getter in the inaugural edition of The Hundred. Turning out for Birmingham Phoenix, the batter smashed 348 runs in nine games at an average of 58 and a strike rate of 178.46. He crossed the fifty mark thrice during the course of the event.
Liam Livingstone’s IPL record
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His T20 exploits aside, Livingstone is yet to make his mark in the IPL. He has featured in nine matches across two editions, but has only scored 113 runs at a strike rate of 126.96 with a best of 44.
The 28-year-old represented the Rajasthan Royals (RR) last season and managed merely 42 runs in five games at a strike rate of 102.43.