Deals for Alex Hales, Benny Howell alongside million-dollar men Liam Livingstone and Jofra Archer
Overall, there were contracts for 11 England-qualified players across the two-day event, bringing the tally at the 2022 IPL to 13, with Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali already having been retained by their franchises.
In a somewhat ironic twist, Hales, the prolific top-order batter whose England career has been on hold since 2019 because of what Morgan has called “trust issues”, was picked up by KKR for GBP 147,000.
“Jofra is a player Mahela gave his first professional debut to. So happy to have gotten them together,” Akash Ambani, the Mumbai owner, said. “Although it is going to be in next year, but very happy to have a lethal combination. Tymal has been a lethal death bowler. Mahela coaches him in the Hundred and he has managed to stay injury-free.”
A number of high-profile English players – including Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes – had decided not to enter the mega-action, but there were still 24 potentially on the block. Adil Rashid, Reece Topley and Laurie Evans were among those unable to attract bids, while several other names didn’t make it out of the hat.
England-qualified players at IPL 2022: Moeen Ali* (Chennai Super Kings), Jofra Archer (Mumbai Indians), Jonny Bairstow (Punjab Kings), Jos Buttler* (Rajasthan Royals), Sam Billings (Kolkata Knight Riders), Alex Hales (Kolkata Knight Riders), Benny Howell (Punjab Kings), Chris Jordan (Chennai Super Kings) Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings), Tymal Mills (Mumbai Indians), Jason Roy (Gujarat Titans) David Willey (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Mark Wood (Lucknow Super Giants)
*Retained previously