‘Put on some clothes and run' - Charu Sharma shares chat with IPL chairman after replacing Hugh Edmeades

On Saturday (February 12), a freakish incident took place during Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega auction. AuctioneerHugh Edmeadescollapsed on the stage mid-way through the bidding for Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga, who eventually went to Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 107.5 million (INR 10.75 crore).

Later, the IPL confirmed that Edmeades “had an unfortunate fall due to Postural Hypotension,” and confirmed that he remains stable. Thus, he was replaced by broadcaster Charu Sharma, who continues to remain the auctioneer for the remainder of the two-day mega auction as Edmeades remains on recovery mode.

For the unversed, Charu Sharma lives near the hotel where the IPL mega auction is taking place in Bengaluru. He recently revealed the call from the IPL chairman on how he was offeredto quickly turn up and replace Edmeades.“I don’t live too far from the hotel. So Brijesh called me and said, ‘just put on some clothes and run’… I was there in just 15-20 minutes. They briefed me for a bit and then we were on,” Sharma toldSportstar.

“I am also a regular auctioneer and have held a lot of auctions for several other leagues, except for the IPL. I was only doing what I did in the past..”

He further added, “I still do a fair amount of cricket and other leagues. I am 62 and if the phone rings, I still work. If it doesn’t ring, then I play golf, tennis, and stay at home. Even at times, friends tell me, ‘Hey Charu, we miss you in cricket.’ I joke and say, ‘even I miss myself.’ But that being said, I have done a lot of leagues and other assignments, the recent being the Tata Open Maharashtra."

The likes of Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Nicholas Pooran, Liam Livingstone, Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan, etc. have been sold for a whopping price in the mega auction so far. Some unknown faces, or relatively inexperienced campaigners, have also made heads turn with them going for a big sum. The two-day affair will conclude later on Sunday (February 13).