He set his base price at INR 1 crore in the 2021 Indian Premier League, but didn't expect any franchise to make a bid. Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques was, in fact, sleeping when a bidding war ensued for his signature between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In the end, the revamped Punjab franchise secured Henriques' services at INR 4.2 crore.
In a chat with cricket.com.au, Henriques revealed that he came to know about the bidding through the messages on his mobile phone.
"I was not expecting to get picked up at all," the 34-year-old Henriques told cricket.com.au. "It wasn't until I woke up to go to the bathroom that I noticed I saw a couple of messages saying congrats on the pick-up and I thought, 'That's nice,' and tried to go back to sleep as soon as possible.
"I just assumed I would have been picked up at base (price, which he'd set at INR 1 crore).
"Then it wasn't until I woke up properly in the morning that I realised how much I went for."
Henriques was included in the Australian Test squad during the recently-concluded India's tour, as he replaced the injured Sean Abbott. However, he went out of contention for a place in the T20I side, failing to make a place in the ongoing five-match series against New Zealand.
The all-rounder said that he would eye a comeback to the Aussie T20I side with good performances in the IPL.
"There's no secret I was gutted when you fight your way into the international white-ball teams and then you get selected to go to South Africa and that tour doesn't go ahead, and you don't get your opportunity to defend your spot in that (T20) team when it goes to New Zealand," Henriques said.
"By not playing, someone else gets that opportunity – and deservedly so.
"But (the IPL) is more T20 cricket, more white-ball cricket for me to play and learn from. If I do get that opportunity (for Australia) in the future, then I'd be ready to go."
