Twitterati left stunned after KKR buy Tom Banton at his base price of 1 Cr

Banton was expected to rake in a huge moolah for himself in the 2020 IPL Auctions.

By Yash Mittal

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Tom Banton
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Tom Banton. (Photo Source: Twitter)

England’s newest batting sensation in white-ball cricket, Tom Banton, was tipped to be one of the hottest draws in the 2020 auction. Banton, who recently made his Big Bash League debut, shot into prominence courtesy his exploits for Somerset in the 2019 edition of the T20 Vitality Blast.

Banton, 20, emerged as the second-highest run-scorer in the entire competition after he accumulated 549 runs at a blistering strike-rate of 161.47. During the campaign, the tearaway opening batsman racked up four-half centuries and a blistering 51-ball century against Kent Spitfires.

Banton was expected to rake in a huge moolah for himself in the 2020 IPL Auctions but to the surprise of a lot of people, Kolkata Knight Riders literally stole the tearaway opening batsmen when they locked him in at his base price of Rs 1 Crore. Apart from Banton, KKR acquired the services of Chris Green, England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan and Pat Cummins, who set the record of being the highest overseas bid in the history of the IPL.

And, naturally, Brendon McCullum- the Head Coach of KKR- was chuffed to bits. McCullum expressed his satisfaction at a good day’s work with a tweet that read: “Good nights shopping for us @KKRiders Some outstanding Indian players that all of which we were targeting prior! Add our overseas picks of @patcummins30 @Eoin16 @chrisgreen_93 & Tom Banton to our existing list of quality players & it’s fair to say us coaches are very happy!@IPL 💪🏻”

Tom Banton’s childhood dream of playing in the IPL finally comes true

As for Banton, getting an Indian Premier League contract is like a dream come true for the youngster. In a recent interview to ESPNCricinfo, Banton had reckoned that playing in the IPL has always been a dream. The swashbuckling batsmen had even named Mumbai Indians as his favourite franchise. While his dream of playing for the Mumbai Indians hasn’t materialized, Banton won’t be complaining, for he will now get a chance to play and hopefully perform against his favourite franchise.

“Playing in the IPL has been a dream from a very young age. You see the big crowds and the attention it has. I am in the IPL auction this year (December 19), so fingers crossed somebody picks me. As a kid, I have always loved watching Mumbai Indians. Then I had the good fortune of playing at the Wankhede for the England U-19 team. There was tremendous support at the ground then, even though we lost 5-0,” he added.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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