Chris Gayle was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the final round at the IPL auction

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia has revealed that the franchise nearly failed to acquire the services of Chris Gayle at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in January as they were concerned about the money they had left.

Gayle surprisingly went unsold in the first two rounds of the auction, but the Kings XI made a last-second bid for him in the final round.

Wadia admitted that there were concerns another franchise would raise the amount, which would have put the Kings XI out of contention as they only had INR 2.1 crores left.

However, no other team bid for Gayle and he was sold to the Kings XI for INR 2 crores.

The decision to purchase Gayle paid off as he has scored 252 runs in four matches, which includes a hundred and two half-centuries, at an average of 126.

“We had only Rs 2.1 crore left and if we had bid for Chris earlier (at the auction) and another team came up with a counter bid, we did not have the money to buy him,” Wadia was quoted as saying by the Deccan Chronicle. “Luckily, no other team bid for him and we were more than happy to get third time lucky.”