IPL 2018 is now storming towards the business end as the playoffs are fast approaching. Every match from now on has a great effect on which four teams will qualify for the top-spots. The losing teams will then try the autopsy of their losses and some will eventually trace it back to the mega-auction that happened at the start of the year.

The Indian Premier league which began in the year 2008 captured the imagination of Indian Public like nothing else. There were few concepts which were loved and which were hated. One concept that always captures all the eyeballs is the IPL Auctions. With the auction comes this Auctioneer Richard Medly with his little wooden hammer.

Richard Madley has been the Auctioneer of the IPL since last eleven years and has witnessed every smart and dumb moves that Franchises have made. He recently featured in a cricket show by Sky Sports where he revealed that the teams not going for Chris Gayle surprised him a lot. He also recalled how Universe Boss’ name was announced three times into the auction before Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) finally bagged his services. Madley also felt that England captain Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow going unsold also surprised him a little.

“I pulled Chris Gayle’s bail out of the bag, called out his name and asked for his base price which I believe is Rs 2 Crores. There was no bid. Obviously, I looked at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who had let him go to maybe just test the water. I also looked at KKR as they had him before in one of the seasons. There was no bidding at all and that was perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the auction along with Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow,” he said.

As it turned out, on the third attempt and during the final stages of the event, KXIP went for him and he eventually has won them three matches so far in the tournament. He even became the first centurion of IPL 2018 with his ton against Sunrisers Hyderabad.