The Hundred draft: Gayle, Malinga undrafted; Rashid, Russell top picks
The England Cricket Board's new competition The Hundred has been grabbing headlines especially due to its new format. With the tournament set to get underway from 2020, the draft for the inaugural edition was held on Sunday as eight teams battled it out to acquire the best possible players for their squad. It did come up with some surprises, as we take a look.
What is The Hundred?
The Hundred is a professional cricket tournament, being organized by the ECB. The format of the tournament involves: 100 balls per innings with a bowler to bowl a maximum of 20 deliveries. The ends are to change after every 10 deliveries, while a bowler can bowl five to 10 consecutive deliveries. The power-play would be applicable for the opening 25 balls of the innings.
How was the draft conducted?
The draft was divided into seven categories (£125,000, £100,000, £75,000, £60,000, £50,000, £40,000 and £30,000). As a result, seven rounds of the draft were held. Meanwhile, a total of 570 players were up for grabs, including 239 overseas and 331 domestic players. A total of 96 players were sold, with the remaining 474 going unsold.
Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga and more among big misses
Talking about the misses of the event, there were some big guns who went unsold, which included T20 powerhouse Chris Gayle and yorker king Lasith Malinga. Besides them, Babar Azam, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Quinton de Kock, and Tamim Iqbal too were some of the big names for which the draft didn't go their way.
Gayle and Malinga among highest priced players in the draft
It is to be noted that both Gayle and Malinga were among the most expensive players in the draft, of £125,000. Other players, who were in the same category, included Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, David Warner, and Kagiso Rabada. As a result, all these players were put up for the draft in the opening round.
Rashid Khan: The opening pick of the draft
As for the opening trade of the draft, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan was the first one to be drafted, picked up by Trent Rockets. As a result, he would now play alongside English Test captain Joe Root, who hailed him as "one of the best players". Meanwhile, Starc and Smith were acquired by Welsh Fire, while Warner would serve Southern Brave.
Other top players to be drafted
Following are some of the other top players to be drafted: - Andre Russell (Southern Brave). - Aaron Finch and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Northern Superchargers). - Sunil Narine (Oval Invincibles). - Imran Tahir (Manchester Originals). - Glenn Maxwell (London Spirit). - Liam Livingstone (Birmingham Phoenix).
