I had given up all hopes when Afridi went unsold: Eoin Morgan

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: January 21, 2010

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London: England’s middle order batsman, Eoin Morgan, said on Wednesday, a day after he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL auction, that watching the auction was a “nerve-wracking” experience and he had given up all hopes of being picked up by any franchisee once Shahid Afridi went unsold.

The 23-year-old Irishman said that initially he didn’t have plans of following the auction but he just couldn’t sleep, knowing that it was on.

“I was at home watching it on the internet. I hadn’t planned to watch it and my housemate said he would watch for me but I couldn’t sleep this morning and I came in about 15 minutes before my pool,” said the Irishman who was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 220,000.

“It was nerve-racking. It was weird, it was like playing Championship Manager, watching the text come up,” Morgan was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

The left hander, who had represented Ireland in the 2007 World Cup, said that he was even tenser after watching someone like Shahid Afridi, who is a proven performer in the T20 version of the game, go unsold.

“The big shock for me was Shahid Afridi. After seeing him not get a gig, I thought I would struggle but once it came up that Bangalore had bid for me I knew I was sorted,” he said.

The Middlesex player will now join England teammate Kevin Pietersen in the Bangalore side and he felt the team, which finished runners up in last year’s IPL, looked formidable.

“I don’t know many of their Indian players but have seen them play as I watched the previous IPLs. They have a very strong side, with the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jesse Ryder and Jacques Kallis,” Morgan said.

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