COETZEE AND ROSSOUW EARN BIG PAY DAYS AT IPL AUCTION

Joburg Super Kings fast bowler Gerald Coetzee’s rising star has no limits.

Coetzee shot to prominence in last season’s maiden Betway SA20 when he claimed 17 wickets in the competition. It led to an international debut across formats for the Proteas Men’s team, and now Coetzee has been signed up by Indian Premier League giants Mumbai Indians at Tuesday’s mini-auction in Dubai.

Coetzee’s base price was INR 2 crore ($240 000; R4 407 508 approximately), but after a bidding war between Chennai Super Kings (whose sister team he plays for), Lucknow Super Giants and MI, the 23-year-old fast bowler was eventually bought for INR 5 crore ($602 000;  R12-million approximately) by the five-times IPL champions. 'The Karate Kid' will have a familiar teammate at MI in Romario Shepherd (the Joburg Super Kings allrounder), as well as Dewald Brevis.

Coetzee went unsold at the last IPL auction two years ago when his base price was only 20 lakh (R441 788 approximately).

But that was before he finished as the Proteas highest wicket-taker at the World Cup in India where he took 20 wickets in eight matches during South Africa’s run to the semi-finals. Coetzee has claimed 31 wickets overall in 14 ODIs at an average of just 23.22.

Proteas fast bowling legend and Sunrisers Eastern Cape bowling coach Dale Steyn was full of praise after the World Cup for the exuberant young fast bowler from Bloemfontein.

“He plays with his heart on his sleeve, but doesn’t get too emotional. He does exactly what is required. He hits hard lengths. He is a very smart bowler in terms of knowing when to use his short ball, changing up his lengths. Good with execution. There is certainly a bright future ahead of him,” Steyn said. 

Equally, Ceetzee claimed 3/32 in the second T20I against India last week at St George’s Park in Gqeberha to further raise his value.

Pretoria Capitals’ explosive top-order batter Rilee Rossouw initially went unsold during the first round of bidding, but re-entered the auction during the second round at 2 crore ($240 000; R4 407 508 approximately).

Rossouw proved to be a popular purchase second time around with Punjab Kings opening the bidding before being challenged by the left-hander’s former team Delhi Capitals.

Punjab Kings were steadfast in their quest to land Rossouw and eventually purchased him for INR 8 crore ($936 000; R17 180 081 million approximately) - the biggest purse by a South African at the auction.

Rossouw will join fell SA20 stars Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada in Mohali.

Fellow big-hitting Proteas batter Tristan Stubbs also found a new IPL home at the auction. The Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter, who earned the highest bid of R9.2 million at the inaugural Betway SA20 auction, was released by the Mumbai Indians at the end of last season.

But he will now be turning out for the Delhi Capitals - alongside Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi - after being picked up for his base price of 50 lakh (R1.1 million).

Another young Joburg Super Kings fast bowler Nandre Burger’s impressive bowling performance against India in the second ODI at St George’s Park earned him a late call-up to the IPL.

Burger built up a great deal of steam in Gqeberha where his pace was consistently in the high 140s, causing the Indian batters a great deal of discomfort whilst taking a three-wicket haul.

This was enough to convince the Rajasthan Royals to pick up the left-arm seamer for his base price of 50 lakh (R1.1 million). in Jaipur, Burger will meet up with his Joburg Super Kings teammate Donovan Ferreira and get to know Jos Buttler.

Unfortunately Pretoria Capitals’ duo Phil Salt and Jimmy Neesham, Paarl Royals' Tabraiz Shamsi, MI Cape Town’s Rassie van der Dussen and Durban’s Super Giants Keemo Paul went unsold.

Australian fast bowling duo Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins shattered the record for the most expensive IPL buys within a couple of hours of each other.

Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight riders for INR 24.75 crore (US$2,982,000 approx) surpassing Cummins’ winning bid of INR 20.50 crore (US$2,470,000 approx.) that Sunrisers Hyderabad had made for Australia's ODI World Cup winning captain.