West Indies teams across the board might be performing way below par on the international scene, ranking ninth in Test cricket and One-Day Internationals and seventh in Twenty20 cricket. But individually players from the region are still being highly sought after by global franchise owners.A total of 17 West Indies cricketers have received lucrative contracts to ply their trade in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The two-day auction for the richest global tournament concluded yesteday in Bengaluru. West Indians make up the largest group of foreign players recruited in the IPL with the different franchises forking out a total of US$$10.855 million for their servicesFormer Barbados and England cricketer Roland Butcher said he hopes that the Caribbean players would grasp the opportunity with both hands given the fact that the IPL can be unforgiving when the performances do not match the earnings.“I am very pleased that so many people got contracts. I really hope that they perform to make sure that they can get future contracts because places like the IPL are fairly unforgiving. If you don’t perform you will lose that contract so it is important for all of them to realize that to whom much is given, much is expected, so they will have to go and perform.
