Australian cricketer Daniel Christian reacted with astonishment after being picked up by IPL side Deccan Chargers for a whopping $900,000 for the fourth edition of the Twenty20 tournament.
Christian, who has played just three international Twenty20 games, was snapped up for a price 18 times that of his modest base price of $50,000 and is still in disbelief that he managed to attract the buyers so much.
"It'd be nice to earn those kind of figures in a full career. It's been a funny afternoon, to say the least. Compared to the other guys, I was just hoping to get picked up and play a part in it, so to go for $900,000, words can't really describe it," Christian said.
The all-rounder said the big amounts spent by teams at the IPL auction showed how big cricket has become in India and admitted that his links with Darren Lehmann, who is in charge at Deccan, played a part in his lucrative deal.
"I've had a good few months in state cricket, and by the look of things there's Deccan, Kochi and Delhi who were pretty keen to use my services," he said.
"By the look of the way the auction went yesterday, it looked like a bit of emotion gets involved with some of the owners. I'm lucky enough to be on the receiving end of that.
"Knowing 'Boof' (Lehmann) and having played with Boof has played a part in that for sure. It just goes to show how big the game is in India for that kind of money to be thrown around for guys. It's hard to comprehend over here but over there they're fanatical," he was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.
Deccan also spent a huge sum to secure the services of Australia's newly appointed Twenty20 captain Cameron White, who is now richer by $1.1 million.
"It has been a big couple of days. Obviously it sits pretty well. Like the last couple of days, it probably hasn't sunk in. It's obviously a nice thing to happen, the last couple of days, so yeah, what can you say?" he said.
