 Even as Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab in the 19th game of the IPL
this year, there was one player from Rajasthan Royals who would not be enjoying
it too much. Damien Martyn is contract has been annulled by the Rajasthan Royals
and he has gone back home after playing only one game in the tournament.
The Rajasthan Royals have thus reduced their squad size to 19 now, but it is
expected that Shane Watson will soon the Royals. Watson is currently
involved in a Test series between Australia and New Zealand, in New Zealand,
and will fly down from the game on 1st of April. Watson had an injury scare
after he had to miss out on the first Test match against New Zealand due to
a hip injury and that would have caused much flutter in the Rajasthan camp.
However, it looks like he has been passed fit for the second Test match of the
series. This will mean that Watson should be fit enough to feature in the IPL
as well.
Martyn played only game for the Rajasthan Royals and that was against
the Bangalore side. He scored a laboured 19 and struggled to make most of the
24 balls he faced before being dropped for the next match. The Royals had lost
three games in a row before they managed to win two against Kolkata and Punjab
to come into the reckoning.
Martyn had been selected in the auctions for a price of $100,000 after being
bid for by Shane Warne. None of the other sides bid for the player and
he was left for the Royals to take.
It was a surprise that Damien Martyn had been bought in the first place,
given that he had not played international cricket for four years now, and the
only competitive cricket that he had been involved in was the ICL. Even that
was two years ago after which the tournament ended and the players were released.
Martyn wrote on his website, "By the time you read this I'll be heading
home. The Rajasthan Royals squad has been trimmed to 19 players and it looks
like allrounder Shane Watson might join us next week. That's the nature of professional
cricket and I knew from the start what my role in the squad was and how this
might happen."
Martyn has also said that he may look to make a comeback as the coach of one
of the IPL sides.
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