Liam Livingstone is now the most expensive overseas player in history.
On day 2 of the IPL Auction in Bengaluru, hard-hitting English batsman Liam Livingstone became the first player to reach the ten-crore mark.
Punjab Kings paid 11.50 crore for Liam Livingstone, which is 11.5 times his basic price of one crore.
The first franchise to make a bid for Liam Livingstone was Kolkata Knights, who faced off against Chennai Super Kings before Punjab stepped in. CSK, KKR, Gujarat, Punjab, and SRH were all interested in the Englishman’s services, but it was Ness Wadia and team who eventually secured him after the morning’s most exciting bidding battle.
Livingstone was the most expensive Englishman in the IPL 2022 big auction, joining compatriot Jonny Bairstow in the Punjab squad. It is also the fourth-highest bid for an Englishman in history, after only Ben Stokes (twice) and Tymal Mills.
While Livingstone has a strong reputation to maintain after excelling in T20 cricket elsewhere, his stints in the IPL have yet to bear fruit.
Livingstone has 112 runs in 9 IPL games and would be eager to rectify that when he gets his turn in Punjab colours. Prior to today, he has only ever played for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Livingstone fled the IPL bubble and headed home, citing “bubble weariness.”
Livingstone has scored 4,095 runs at 29.04 in 164 T20 matches. He has two centuries and 23 fifties to his name. He has a strike rate of 144.49 percent. In T20 cricket, his best score is 103. He also bowls leg and off-spin and has 79 T20 wickets to his account.