IPL: Rajasthan Royals call up Sussex’s George Garton for trials

George Garton, the fast bowler from Brighton, Sussex, has been called up for trials by the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The speedster will attend the trial for four days ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, scheduled to take place on December 19 in Kolkata. Garton doesn’t have a whole lot of experience in T20s, but it’s his outings in the T10 League that has brought him into the limelight.

The 22-year-old was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Playing for the Qalandars, led by Dawid Malan, Garton finished with 12 wickets from nine matches, though he went wicketless in the last couple of games. Talking about his chance with the Royals, the Young Turk is looking forward to show his abilities with the ball in hand.

An excited George Garton

“It’s obviously an amazing opportunity and I’m very grateful to be given the chance to go over there and show them what I can do. The IPL is the biggest franchise T20 competition in the world so to have interest from a team like Rajasthan is a big confidence boost and I’m very excited to get out there,” Garton was quoted as saying in Sussex Cricket’s official website.

Garton has enjoyed a significant amount of success, representing Sussex. Earlier, he developed an injury that cut short his 2018 season, but has now managed to make a superlative comeback. Interestingly, Garton last played T20 cricket way back in August 2017 after making his debut in 2016. In 12 T20s, the pacer has gotten 11 wickets at an economy of 8.77 to go with a four-wicket haul.

As far as Rajasthan is concerned, the IPL team hasn’t won the coveted trophy ever since 2008 when they were crowned as the inaugural champions. In the lead-up to the auction, the Royals have retained 14 cricketers, which includes four foreign names- Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler. They have 15 slots (11 Indian and four overseas) to be filled.

Ajinkya Rahane, who was a part of the Rajasthan team for quite a few years, have been traded to the Delhi Capitals. The Royals have also traded in the likes of Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia and Ankit Rajpoot into their ranks.

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