Moeen Ali nets Chennai Super Kings deal in IPL auction

The 33-year-old, who had spent the past two years with Royal Challengers Bangalore, fills the Super Kings’ final overseas spot

Sports Staff
Thursday 18 February 2021 13:49 GMT
Comments
England all-rounder Moeen Ali
England all-rounder Moeen Ali (Getty Images for ECB)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

England’s Moeen Ali has been sold to Chennai Super Kings for £700,000 in the opening round of the 2021 Indian Premier League Auction as South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris fetched a record £1.6million bid by Rajasthan Royals.

Moeen, who has departed the England squad in India following the second Test to take up a pre-determined period of rest, found himself at the centre of a battle between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai for his services.

The 33-year-old, who had spent the past two years with Royal Challengers Bangalore, fills the Super Kings’ final overseas spot and will join England team-mate Sam Curran at the IPL franchise, when the competition takes place from April to June.

England batsman Dawid Malan, number one in the world Twenty20 rankings, is set to play for Punjab following a successful bid of almost £150,000.

However, England players Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Sam Billings and spinner Adil Rashid all went unsold during the first round of the auction.

Australian Steve Smith, not retained by the Rajasthan Royals, was sold to Delhi Capitals for £220,000, while batsman Glenn Maxwell will join Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m.

Eight English players - including white-ball captain Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler - were retained by their respective franchises ahead of the 2021 tournament.

Bowler Mark Wood, however, had requested to be withdrawn from consideration for the auction as he did not want to spend more time away from his family.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in