IPL 5th Addition 2012

South African opener Richard Levi - who scored the fastest century in the history of T20 Internationals during his knock 117 off 51 balls against New Zealand on Sunday - has made IPL franchise owners sit up and take notice after being ignored at auctions in Bangalore earlier this month.

The 24-year-old right-hander, who hit 13 sixes at the Seddon Park in Hamilton in the second T20 between the two sides, had a base price of USD 50,000 and was ignored during the mini-auctions held in Bangalore on February 4.

Levi scored the fastest century in the history of T20 Internationals against New Zealand on Sunday.

AP Photo

"The purse was limited to USD 2 million and frankly speaking we didn't have any clue about this player. With budget limited, we were only eyeing marquee players and didn't have any idea about this guy," a senior official of one of the franchises told PTI.

But T20 fans might still get a chance to watch Levi's pyrotechnics as the Cape Cobras opener can still be fast-tracked into the cash-rich T20 extravaganza if Pune Warriors, who didn't take part in the auctions, rope in the Proteas opener.

As of now, Pune Warriors, who are back in the IPL, can certainly hire Levi at the base price (USD 50,000), which can prove to be a good bargain since the opener's stock will only go up after this particular knock.

Call it poor homework by the IPL franchises, but Levi has had an awesome reputation in the shorter formats in South African domestic cricket. He has a strike-rate of over 100 in 51 List A matches. His strike-rate in the shortest format is a whopping 150 in 34 matches.

Courtesy..CricketNext