The England international was involved in a bidding war in Bengaluru and saw his price rocket compared to last year, following a breakthrough 12 months; Livingstone became the fourth-highest English player sold at an IPL auction
Sunday 13 February 2022 17:33, UK
Liam Livingstone was sold to Punjab Kings for £1.1m on the second day of the 2022 Indian Premier League auction.
The England international was involved in a bidding war in Bengaluru and saw his price rocket compared to last year, following a breakthrough 12 months.
Livingstone fetched £74,000 in 2021 and - despite scoring only 42 runs in five innings for Rajasthan Royals - the Lancashire all-rounder went on to enjoy a sensational summer in white-ball cricket.
A maiden international Twenty20 hundred off 42 balls for England against Pakistan in July was followed by being named Most Valuable Player in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, with Livingstone's leg-spin also effective at last year's T20 World Cup.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans were among the other sides interested in Livingstone, before Punjab Kings secured his services with a successful bid of 115m rupees (£1.125m).
Livingstone will be one of three English players in the Kings' 2022 roster, Jonny Bairstow signed for just over £650,000 and Benny Howell also selected in the auction for an IPL debut.
England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan was not signed up but Jofra Archer was bought by Mumbai Indians, even though the fast bowler - recovering after an elbow surgery - is unlikely to play in this year's tournament. Archer will be joined in Mumbai by bowler Tymal Mills.
Mark Wood was a big-money signing for new franchise Lucknow Super Giants during day one of the two-day event. Wood, who withdrew from last year's auction to spend more time with his family, was bought for about £735,000 by the Lucknow Super Giants.
Jason Roy was bought by new franchise Gujarat Titans for nearly £200,000, while wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings and Alex Hales were both sold to the Knight Riders.
All-rounder Moeen Ali and wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler were retained by Chennai and Rajasthan Royals respectively and were not involved in the auction, while Chris Jordan joined the Super Kings and David Willey was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Australia's World-Cup winning skipper Aaron Finch went unsold, while compatriot Marnus Labuschagne and England batsman Dawid Malan also weren't claimed by a franchise. India's Ishan Kishan was the most expensive player bought in the two-day action after Mumbai forked out nearly £1.5m to keep him on Saturday.
