IPL Auction 2020: 48-year-old Pravin Tambe becomes the oldest player to get a bid in IPL Auction

What's the story?

Mumbai's leg-spinner, Pravin Tambe, has become the oldest player to receive a bid in IPL auctions as the Kolkata Knight Riders bought the 48-year-old at his base price of ₹20 lakhs in IPL Auction 2020.

The background

Pravin Tambe already held the record for being the oldest player to make his IPL debut as he played his first IPL game at the age of 41 in 2013. Rajasthan Royals unearthed the talent in him as the leggie became a regular in IPL. He later earned a contract from the Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad as well.

The heart of the matter

We get a SEASONED campaigner in Pravin Tambe! 🙌An interesting pick by the #KKRThinkTank 😋 #IPLAuction #KorboLorboJeetbo #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/PWVM1mKNLY

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) December 19, 2019

Though his cricketing career took off late, Tambe has been a major player in the shorter formats of the game. He had been the first player to take a hat-trick in the T10 League apart from a hattrick against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2014.

The Kolkata-based franchise has thus, roped him in for the upcoming IPL season. KKR will be the fourth franchise of the 48-year-old veteran who has scalped 28 wickets in his IPL career. His economy rate of 7.75 shows that he can keep a check on the run flow with his leg-spin.

What's next?

It will be interesting to see if Kolkata Knight Riders pick him up in their playing XI because they already have an extremely talented pool of players.