Razzak enters billion-dollar tournament

A surprised Abdur Razzak was proud to be the first Bangladesh to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after he was auctioned off to the Bangalore franchise in Mumbai yesterday.
" Obviously I am excited. A player from our country will be benefited in a lot of ways playing against and with such big names. More importantly, I am representing my country in IPL," said Razzak after Tigers' practice yesterday.
There was no trace of the left-arm spinner's name in the IPL auction list till Saturday and it was Razzak's skipper Mohammad Ashraful and Tigers vice-captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who were offered to the different franchises.
Mashrafe and Ashraful, the two draft picks, did not draw interest because their starting price was set at USD 40,000.
But in Sunday's second IPL auction, it was consistent performer Razzak who engrossed attention, and around Tk 3,400,000 (USD 50,000) for the first season.
"One local official and (Mohammad) Ashraful informed me that my name was up in auction. I was a little bit surprised because I was never mentioned (for IPL). Rather it was Ashraful and Mashrafe (Bin Mortaza) whose name came up earlier," he said.
Razzak felt lucky that 'someone' remembered his good work in the Twenty20 World Championships and limited-overs performance in Mumbai and selected him.
"My recent ODI performance must have worked in my favour," admitted Razzak, who took seven wickets at an average of 17.28 in the World Twenty20s last September.