IPL Auction 2022: Romario Shepherd — All you need to know about all-rounder who went to SRH for Rs 7.75 crore – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

West Indies enjoyed a sizeable representation at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction that took place in Bengaluru over the weekend, and of the 67 overseas players who were sold across the two days, 17 were West Indians.

While ‘Universe Boss’ and and batting icon Chris Gayle decided to opt out of the 15th edition of the cash-rich Indian league, many of his former teammates are still part of the action with Dwayne Bravo going back to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after being released ahead of the auction. Other senior players Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians), Andre Russell and Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) had been retained by their respective franchises.

Current stars Nicholas Pooran (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Jason Holder (Lucknow Super Giants) ended up bagging the biggest deals among the West Indians in the mega auction, going for Rs 10.75 crore and Rs 8.75 crore respectively. Former Delhi Capitals batter Shimron Hetmyer wasn’t too far behind at Rs 8.5 crore.

West Indies bowling all-rounder Roman Shepherd was in action during the recent T20I series against England. AFP

However, Romario Shepherd joining Pooran at SRH, where West Indian legend Brian Lara is the batting coach, at Rs 7.75 crore did raise an eyebrow or two as he ended up getting a bid higher than legendary all-rounder Bravo and hard-hitting opener Evin Lewis, and his deal is worth more than what Pollard and Narine both Rs 6 crore — were retained at.

And Shepherd is a relatively new name in Indian cricket circles — neither has he played in the IPL nor has he faced the Men in Blue in the 10 ODIs and 14 T20Is that he has played till date.

Who is Romario Shepherd?

Though he has not really plied his trade elsewhere in the world unlike some of his more well-known colleagues, Shepherd has been a regular with the Guyana Amazon Warriors since joining the outfit in 2018.

While he didn’t make much of an impact in his three appearances in 2018, he was a different beast the following year, collecting 13 wickets in 10 games at an average of 19 and a strike rate of 13.6.

He produced an even better display in the most recent edition, smashing an unbeaten 72 off 31 balls and collecting 3/31 in a match-winning all-round display against Jamaica Tawallahs. Shepherd would finish the season the second-highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets to his name with a superb average and strike rate of 14.11 and 11.

More recently, he had decent displays both with bat and ball for West Indies in the home T20I series against England. He smashed a 28-ball 44 in the second T20I, nearly guiding the hosts home in a thrilling 171-run chase, in which they fell short by just one run.

Shepherd also held his nerve with the ball in the following game. Defending 36 off the last six, Phil Salt struck back-to-back sixes to begin the final over. Shepherd though, removed the threat by bowling him round his legs with a yorker, before conceding a single off the last three. His figures of 3/59 ultimately went in a winning effort.

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