‘Jason Roy and Lockie Ferguson were part of the plan’ – Ashish Nehra reveals Gujarat’s auction strategy

Gujarat head coach Ashish Nehra has revealed that England opening batter Jason Roy and New Zealand Lockie Ferguson were part of their plans going into the mega auction. Both players were bought by the franchise during the mega auction that took place last weekend. Roy was slotted in the second round of Day One and was bought at his base price of INR 2 crores.

Many former cricketers and pundits consider this as a steal because Roy is an established white-ball cricketer. On the other hand. Ferguson attracted bids from four teams including Gujarat. Entering into the auction at a base price of 2 crores, Gujarat was interested in the services of the Kiwi pacer but they had to fight with Delhi, Bangalore, and Lucknow. The pacer was bought at 10 crores.

Meanwhile, Nehra said that apart from the duo, England batter Liam Livingstone was also part of his team’s plans. Livingstone was bought by Punjab at 11.5 crores after battling with the likes of Gujarat, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

“Jason Roy and Lockie Ferguson were always part of the plans. Liam Livingstone (was also part of the plan), we went till 10 crores but that’s the IPL for you. People will outbid you and you will outbid them,” Nehra told Cricbuzz.

The 2011 World Cup winner added that the franchise had to pay a little extra for Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade but they are happy to get him alongside another wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Both players were bought at the end of February 13 as they had no wicketkeeper in their squad until then.

“Matthew Wade, we had to pay a little extra ( ₹2.40 crore) but in the end, we got him, as well as one Indian wicketkeeper in Saha. If you talk about Indian wicketkeepers, he is one of the best ones going around.”