Selling MS Dhoni in first IPL season is still my career highlight, says auctioneer Richard Madley
What’s the story?
This year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to be different as veteran auctioneer Richard Madley will not conduct the auction. Hugh Edmeades will take over the reins from the popular Briton who did an impeccable job as the auctioneer for eleven years.
In a statement issued by the BCCI regarding the auctions for IPL 2019, they mentioned that Madley is set to miss the auction. The man himself took to Twitter to announce that the Indian board has replaced him with Edmeades.
Reminiscing his stint at the helm of numerous IPL auctions, Madley has also reiterated that selling MS Dhoni for USD 1.5 million to Chennai Super Kings remains the highlight of his career.
The context
In order to make the auction process clinical, the BCCI hired the services of experienced Sotheby's auctioneer Richard Madley to conduct the event. The way in which people eagerly stayed glued to their television to see which team their favourite player will represent increased because of Madley's enthusiasm.
Madley himself took to his official Twitter account to express his disappointment at missing the upcoming IPL auctions and admitted that he will miss his friends in the country. Moreover, he shared a wonderful camaraderie with the franchises and the players.
The heart of the matter
Soon after the news spread that Madley won’t be available for the auction, his fans expressed their gratitude for him on social media. Similarly, one of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) fan pages recalled one of his old comments regarding selling MS Dhoni in the inaugural auction of the IPL and thanked him for all the memories.
“For me, nothing could match the opening auction in 2008 when I dropped my hammer selling MS Dhoni for $1.5 million”,” Madley had earlier said. He was thrilled to read the comment and reiterated his iconic comment.
“Greetings to all my CSK friends who I have got to know so well. Selling @msdhoni in IPL 1 is still a career highlight. #WhistlePodu,” his reply read.
During the inaugural IPL auction in 2008, Chennai Super Kings acquired Dhoni for a whopping USD 1.5 million. It would turn out to be the most important development in the history of the tournament as the wicket-keeper batsmen went on to lead his franchise to three IPL titles.
What's next?
With this IPL, we won’t see Madley handle the important players auction process, but we would look forward to what Edmeades would bring to the table.
It will be interesting to see how Edmeades manages to live up to all the hype now after 11 glorious years of Madley at the auction.