Ngarava, Muzarabani miss out on IPL

Chevrons’ fast bowling duo of Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani went unsold at the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction which was held in Dubai on Tuesday.

The Zimbabwean pacers were among the 333 players who went under the hammer for a chance to take part in the world’s biggest franchise cricket league, but found no takers on a night where history was made.

Out of the 333 players who went under the hammer, 214 were Indians and 119 were overseas players of which two were from associate nations. After missing out on what would have been career changing moves for Zimbabwe’s frontline bowlers, Sikandar Raza will now be the only Chevrons player in the upcoming IPL after he was retained by Punjab Kings for his second stint at the club.

Muzarabani and Ngarava were hoping to join the growing list of Zimbabwean players who have played in the IPL. Other players who have had a dance in the big tournament are Tatenda Taibu, Ray Price and former skipper Brendan Taylor.

In the 2022 season, Muzarabani joined debutants Lucknow Super Giants as a net bowler. He came in as a replacement for England’s Mark Wood.

In Tuesday’s auction, World Cup winning Australian seamers, Mitchell Starc and his captain, Pat Cummins made history by becoming the most expensive buys in the history of the IPL. Starc was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record fee of INR24,75(approx US$2 982 000) to become the most expensive player, less than two hours after Cummins had set the record having been bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 20,50 (approx US$2 470 000).

This will be Starc’s first IPL appearance in over eight year having last played in 2015. The legendary fast bowler last featured in an IPL auction in 2018 and Kolkata Knight Riders signed him but he never played that season due to injury, therefore hasn’t played the IPL since 2015.
Starc, Cummins, Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand), Harshal Patel (India) and Alzarri Joseph (West Indies) will be the biggest earners in next year’s IPL.

However, after Ngarava and Muzarabani went unsold in the auction, Raza will not be the only Zimbabwean in next year’s edition as he will join former Chevrons skipper and coach, Andy Flower who was named as the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), a team which has the likes of Virat Kohli and Faf Du Plessis.

The 2024 IPL tournament is set to be played from March 23 to May 29 in India. —@brandon_malvin