New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori insists that the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction did not play on the minds of his team during the humiliating 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the first Test held in Hamilton.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori insists that the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction did not play on the minds of his team during the humiliating 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the first Test held in Hamilton.
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Vettori, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum were among the players who went under the hammer in India on the second and third day of the Test on Saturday and Sunday.
Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers bought Vettori for 550,000 dollars, Taylor went to the Rajasthan Royals for 1.3 million dollars, Ryder went to Pune Warriors for 150,000 dollars while Kochi IPL team bought McCullum for 475,000 dollars.
The others signed, who were not involved in the Test, are Scott Styris for 200,000 dollars by defending champion Chennai Super Kings, James Franklin for 100,000 dollars by the Mumbai Indians and Nathan McCullum for 100,000 dollars by Pune Warriors, Stuff.co.nz reports.
When asked if the auction had impacted on their performance, Vettori said: "No, I don't think so."
"Obviously those things can be misconstrued. It is part of cricket and you have to deal with it, but if you use it as an excuse for your performance then that's not good enough."
"It shouldn't be a motivating factor for your performance, either, it's about Test cricket. That's why most of us play the game, to perform at Test level," he added.u00a0
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