"It is a good signing going ahead" - Wasim Jaffer praises Kolkata Knight Riders for signing Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan at IPL 2023 Auction
Wasim Jaffer heaped praise on Kolkata Knight Riders for thinking differently at IPL 2023 auction and investing in Bangladeshi players. KKR signed two players from Bangladesh - Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan - for the upcoming IPL season.
KKR signed both players in the accelerated round of the mini-auction. They spent ₹50 lakh to sign Das while Shakib received a contract worth ₹1.5 crore from the two-time champions.
Kolkata Knight Riders were the only franchise to sign players from Bangladesh at this year's auction. The other teams did not bid for Bangladeshi stars because they will be unavailable for some matches due to national duty.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Wasim Jaffer lauded KKR for their long-term approach, pointing out that Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan can be match-winners for them in the future seasons. Jaffer said:
"I think Vaibhav Arora was a good signing. I think Litton Das as well even though he might miss out. Him and Shakib I think will not be available for most of the season but I think it is a good signing going ahead."
"The highlight for me was them putting the bid for Sam Curran" - Wasim Jaffer jokes about Kolkata Knight Riders' bidding process
Wasim Jaffer addressed KKR's performance at IPL 2023 auction and said that the highlight for him was Kolkata raising the peddle for Sam Curran. Before the auction, KKR had only ₹7.05 crore, and they had to sign a few more players to complete their squad.
Still, KKR bid for Curran, who eventually earned a ₹18.5 crore contract from the Punjab Kings. Jaffer labeled it as the highlight of KKR's IPL auction before mentioning that they did a decent job and have their playing XI sorted out. Jaffer concluded:
"Other than that, the highlight for me was them putting the bid for Sam Curran. I think that that was the highlight for me because of the seven-crore purse. But I think they've got what they wanted. They have got their best XI sorted out."
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