Rishabh Pant surpasses Shreyas Iyer to become costliest buy in IPL history at Rs 27 crore
goes to Lucknow Super Giants
Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) (PTI): Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL as Lucknow Super Giants splurged a humongous Rs 27 crore to buy the flamboyant India keeper-batter in the tournament's mega auction here on Sunday.
The amount LSG spent for Pant ensured Shreyas Iyer's record of being the tournament's costliest player lasted barely a few minutes after Punjab Kings broke the bank to buy the India batter for Rs 26.75 crore.
Moments before Pant emerged as the most expensive player, Iyer surpassed the record held by Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore in the last auction.
Pant went to LSG after his former franchise Delhi Capitals did not use the Right to Match card to buy him back.
Starc got a much lower price this time and was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore, while England's Jos Buttler went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore.
Among others, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh's consistency earned him a massive bid of Rs 18 crore, also from Punjab Kings via the Right to Match card, while South African speedster Kagiso Rabada was bought for Rs 10.75 crore by Gujarat Titans.
Iyer, the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain, started with a base price of Rs two crore.
Delhi Capitals had the bid at Rs 26 crore for him but PBKS raised the amount to get the player.
Chennai Super Kings started with the first bid for Arshdeep, whose base price was also Rs two crore.
Eventually, after an intense bidding war, the seamer was bought back by Punjab, who exercised the right to match option to complete the deal, having released him earlier.
This is the second time an IPL auction is being held outside the country after last year's event in Dubai.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
