Veteran sports presenter Charu Sharma had to take over auctioneering duties at the Indian Premier League 2022 (IPL 2022) mega auction in Bengaluru on Saturday after designated auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed mid-event. Sharma conducted the auction for the rest of the day and resumed duties on Sunday for the second and final day of the auction. Sharma revealed that he had to dash to the auction from his hotel in "just 15-20 minutes" to replace Edmeades. Sharma said he received a call from Brijesh Patel, chairman of the IPL governing council, before making a quick dash to the venue.
"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 told Sportstar.
"They said they will call me soon and let me know. I am waiting for their call to know whether I need to be there today..." he added.
He revealed that there weren't many complications despite the forced mid-event replacement.
"I don't think there were too many complications in the system that were set for the auction. The auction itself has a pattern, and the rest is all structured. Once you have a structure in place, it is not very complicated. But yes, still one expects certain butterflies in the stomach, but given the fact that I have done commentary stint for the past 40 years if I still have butterflies in my stomach, then when will they ever go away?" Sharma elaborated.
Meanwhile, Edmeades gave an update on his health on Sunday, saying that he is doing "absolutely fine".
"I am sorry that I can't be in person with you today. As you can see, I'm absolutely fine but I wasn't going to be able to give 100 per cent performance today, which will be unfair to the BCCI, the IPL, the bidders and most importantly the players. I just want to thank people all around the world who have sent me good wishes," Hugh Edmeades said in a video uploaded by the BCCI.