Josh Little becomes first Ireland cricketer to earn IPL deal

NEW DELHI: During the 2023 IPL mini-auction in Kochi on Friday, left-arm pacer Josh Little was roped in by defending champions Gujarat Titans for INR 4.4 crore. From his base price of INR 50 lakh, Little got a deal which was 8.8 times more than the amount he went into the auction. Through this, Little becomes the first Ireland player to earn an IPL contract. Little, 23, made his international debut for Ireland in 2016 and has since played two ODIs and 53 T20Is for his country. He burst onto the international radar in May 2019, where in his ODI debut when he claimed 4-45 in a devastating spell of pace bowling against England in Dublin — which saw him remove three of the top four batters, including then-captain Eoin Morgan for a duck.

Little's most recent bowling exploits for Ireland were in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup against New Zealand, when he became the sixth bowler and second-ever from his country to pick a hat-trick in the global tournament, where he picked 11 wickets overall.

"I'm delighted to have been signed by the defending champions, the Gujarat Titans, and look forward to playing under Hardik Pandya within such a high-quality squad. I'm also looking forward to working with coach Ashish Nehra and would like to thank the management team at the Titans for believing in me," said Little in a Cricket Ireland statement on being part of IPL 2023. IANS

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