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Former India opener Aakash Chopra has raised questions on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise for purchasing South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw for a big sum of Rs 8 crores in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auctions 2024.
Except for Rossouw, the PBKS side spent a lot of money on other players as well such as Indian seamer Harshal Patel for Rs 11.75 crore and England pacer Chris Woakes for Rs 4.20 crore. Chopra asserted that Rossow is a very interesting pick for the Punjab franchise as he has played only one good knock in last year's edition of IPL for Delhi Capitals. He said that in the start the PBKS side did not bid for the South African batter and later on spent a lot of money on him. "They let Rilee Rossouw go at the start but later broke the bank for him. A very interesting pick. He played an odd good knock last year, one was against them only actually. I remember it was a match against Delhi, Rilee Rossouw was batting and they gave the 20th over to Harpreet Brar," the Kolkata Knight Riders batter said on his YouTube channel. Further, the former cricketer questioned how would you include the 34-year-old in the playing XI with already players like Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, and Sam Curran in the squad. "Rilee smashed him, so they probably kept him as he would not be able to hit their players if he is in their team. Rilee Rossouw for eight crores - how will they make a place for him? Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran - it will be difficult to make a place for him," the 46-year-old added. So far in the T20s, Rossouw has played 315 matches where he has slammed 8055 runs at a strike rate of 145.16 and at an average of 30.86 with 49 fifties and six hundreds to his name. The southpaw's highest score in T20Is is 121 off 51 balls with 12 fours and six sixes, breaking his own record for the fastest ton in the competition while playing for Multan Sultans against Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). (ANI)
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