IPL: Tymal Mills still cannot believe his newfound IPL riches

Tymal Mills was in a Dubai hotel room during the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League auctions, when he switched on the television to know how life had changed at the drop of a hat, forever. He was one of the millionaires of this year’s auctions, and coming from an adverse financial background, the 24-year-old couldn’t believe the sudden turn of events in his life.

‘It was unbelievable to watch,’ the young Sussex bowler told Daily Mail. ‘I went silent. My best mate – Tom Craddock (former Essex leg-spinner) – had got up at 3.30am in England to watch the draft with me on FaceTime and he went silent too. I was gawping at the TV. We’d watched Ben Stokes go for big money and been joking about my chances but then it was like, “God”. ‘The hammer came down at $1.8m US, or whatever, and my phone never stopped ringing.’

Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to splurge close to £1.5m on the youngster. For the Sussex cricketer, who just two years ago was compelled to rethink retiring due to a very grave injury, it was a rags to riches story from a small town in Suffolk to IPL riches.

‘I’d spoken with a few people and we knew there was decent interest from various teams but this was well beyond anything we thought possible. It’s life-changing, absolutely. Provided I stay fit I’m guaranteed 80 percent of that money and then the last 20 is pro rata depending on how much you play. “

Tymal Mills, at the age of 13, used to wake up at 3 am to work on market stalls in Brandon before attending school, so that he could be of some financial help to his single mother.

But he went on to become the epitome of what can be called a contemporary Twenty20 specialist, performing well for Sussex and then playing well in Australia,  Bangladesh, New Zealand and Dubai in the recently-concluded Pakistan Premier League.

The three matches he played against India for England, following a bright debut against Sri Lanka, was what brought Mills to the notice of the IPL franchises.