When the IPL auctions 2018 came concluded on Sunday, Richard Madley was surely a relieved man. It was a two-day long marathon for the auctioneer of IPL since 2008. He was standing behind a podium for two long days with a hammer, which may be placed in an Indian cricket museum in future.

Sharing his favorite moment from the after the end of day two, Madley said, “It was when the entire crowd broke into applause when Kings XI Punjab bought Chris Gayle.”

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Madley’s journey of auctioning started decades before he was brought in by Lalit Modi to auction IPL since its inception. Since then he has sold paintings, antiques, memorabilia and more for millions. Describing the same, he said, “My father was an auctioneer, my father-in-law too. It runs in my blood.”

Amongst them is his auction for the collection of cricket memorabilia that belonged to British cricket commentator Brian Johnston. He recalled, “Johnston’s wife asked me to auction his collection after his death in 1994. I sold the finest collection of cricket memorabilia. Bats, balls, paintings, historic pieces.”

Remembering the most memorable auction of his career, Richard said, “A woman asked me to sell this bronze piece in order to fund her nursing school. After a lot of bidding, it was sold for much more than expected. So much so that she burst out crying sitting in the first row. It was way more than the base price”.

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Fast forward to 2008, Madley was auctioning MS Dhoni, who turned out to be the most expensive cricketer of the inaugural season of IPL. Like any other event, Madley points out, there could be events during these auctioning too. He said, “Having an auction devoid of them is the challenge. For example, a franchise could bid after I have hammered a player which has happened twice before. There is no second or third umpire like in cricket. I must be firm, fair and friendly.”

However, of all that he has sold, Madley calls the IPL auction unique, he described, “It is not because of the money involved but it is truly unique. Anyone would have said it is a crazy idea before it began. I’d love to keep coming back, watch more IPL, spend more time in India auctioning.”