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Dimapur, Feb. 19 (EMN): Nagaland cricketer Khrievitso Kense’s dream of playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was cut short on Thursday after he wasn’t picked by any franchisee at this year’s auction held in Chennai but it didn’t disappoint him; it has rather made him more determined to put his best effort whenever he gets opportunity and work hard every day to improve.
Kense was one of the 298 players shortlisted from the initial 1,114 players for the IPL auction 2021 but were not picked by any team. Only 130 cricketers went under the hammer on February 18 and 57 players were bought.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the 16-year-old leg spinner from Nagaland said that even though he was not selected by any IPL franchisee, being shortlisted for auction in one of the world’s biggest leagues within a very short span of domestic cricket career was a great achievement for him.
He said that he never thought he would get a chance to be part of the IPL while playing domestic cricket for Nagaland.
Kense went on to say that he is still young and has lot of things to work on, and that he would work hard. ‘My coach used to advice me not to worry but just focus on my games and everything will be fine,’ he added.
In fact, cricket doesn’t end with the IPL auction for this young lad.
He informed that training camp for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21, in which he is playing, had started on Friday and that Nagaland will play their first match against Sikkim in the Plate group in Chennai, at 9 am on February 21.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21 will be held from February 20 to March 14. Matches for Plate group will be played in Chennai, while the Elite groups will play across different venues.
It may be mentioned that Kense’s seven-wicket haul in four matches at the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 caught the attention of IPL franchisees, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, with whom he underwent trials before being shortlisted for IPL auction 2021.