IPL auctioneer Richard Madley is back in town to watch some Cricket!

For an avid follower of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a season of the glamorous tournament doesn’t feel right unless and until the familiar face of the auctioneer, Richard Madley is up there on the stage bringing down the gavel on the multi-million purchases of the famous cricketers. As someone who’s been associated with the tournament for an entire decade, it’s only fair that Madley would visit India to watch a few of the IPL matches. Recently, he was spotted in stands of the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai for an IPL match.

Madley’s been the chief auctioneer of the IPL since its inception back in 2008. He’s brought down the famous IPL gavel on the purchases of thousands of cricketers over the years, naming one player after the other tirelessly and asking for bids from interested franchises. Not only does man performs an excellent job in the smooth functioning of an otherwise cumbersome auction process, but also lightens up the tedious procedure with his witty remarks now and then.

Richard Madley to visit Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi for the IPL

Speaking to India Today in Mumbai, Richard Madley revealed that he’s back in the country to watch some Cricket. “I’ve been coming here for ten years and I’ve had lots of invitations from IPL franchise holders to come and watch some Cricket and so that’s what I’m doing, here I am in Mumbai today. I’m going to Bangalore to watch the Royal Challengers Bangalore play and then off to Delhi.” He expressed his excitement at the prospect of watching the game for two weeks, during the course of which he’ll be able to catch up with friends and lots of familiar faces.

Madley also revealed that he carries the IPL gavel with him and that it’s the same gavel that he’s been using since 2008. He went on to recall how the auction had been performed back during the first year of the IPL when very few had an idea about how an auction works. “I can remember it very intimately. Nobody had any idea on that day about what was going to happen, neither the franchise holders nor the players nor the auctioneer. I would say, on that day, auction history changed and Cricket changed at the same time, and I was lucky enough to be holding the gavel.”

Commenting on Sachin Tendulkar, who recently had his birthday, the celebrated auctioneer expressed his disappointment on not being able to have brought Tendulkar under the hammer in the auctions and only wondered what it would’ve been like had it happened. Madley went on to defend the salary cap system. Drawing the parallel of how an underdog Rajasthan side won back in IPL 2008, he opined, “I think if the salary cap was listed, would that make it a fair and level playing ground? Ultimately, without a salary cap, the biggest, richest teams would keep on buying the biggest players and you’d see a little bit like the  English football leagues, the Premier League, where the Manchester City’s and the Man United’s and the Chelsea’s dominate the league year in year out and never give the chance for an underdog to win.”

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