Legendary Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he had alerted the IPL teams ahead of the mega auction to keep a close eye on Tim David, but they ignored it.
David was released by Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction but didn’t attract much attention when he went under the hammer as Royal Challengers Bengaluru took advantage of it by signing him for just INR 3 crore. It was Sunrisers Hyderabad who initiated the bid for the Aussie power-hitter, but they backed out early as RCB got him for a steal deal.
David made a notable impact in RCB’s power-packed batting order, delivering a few decisive innings in the finisher’s role. He amassed 187 runs at an impressive average of 62.33, while maintaining a striking rate of 185.15, underscoring his ability to score quickly under pressure.
Ashwin revealed that when he told the IPL teams to keep a close eye on David but they declined his suggestion.
“I shouldn’t say this but I told the decision makers of a few IPL teams to pick him before the last auction. They all said, ‘No, his game has dropped off drastically ‘. I believe the future of T20 cricket is going to be having tall batters with long lovers and strong build. They are going to rule the roost if there are no changes brought to the wide line,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Tim David’s brilliant form
The 29-year-old has also been in incredible form with the Australian team this year. He has smashed 265 runs in 5 matches at a strike rate of 212.00. He also slammed his maiden T20I century against West Indies, and the Aussie team management has started promoting him up the batting order.
Ashwin praised RCB to take a bet on David and signed him for just INR 3 crore, which turned out to be a steal deal for them.
“A player RCB picked up at base price (INR 3 crore) has taken his game to the next level. It’s good to see Australia sending him up the order. A real steal for RCB.”