Wanted to buy Yuvraj Singh for less than Rs 16 crore: DD CEO

New Delhi, May 11: Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua today said that it was IPL market that decided Yuvraj Singh's price of Rs 16 crore and the franchise is firmly backing the ageing star despite his failure to turn the team's fortunes in the ongoing 8th edition of the league.

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Yuvraj has managed only 205 runs at a dismal average of 18.63 from 12 games and DD are practically out of contention for a place in the play-off. (Yuvraj's 1 run costs more than Rs 6 lakh!)

"I think we talk about Rs 14 crore-Rs 16 crore but that's all a market place. As Yuvraj had rightly said (in Vizag) that he never asked for that price. It was a market place," DD CEO Dua told PTI during an interaction where he analysed the team's performance in the current season.

He did state that they would have ideally liked to get him for lesser amount but once bidding started they had to go all out. "Would we have liked it to be Rs 16 crores? No, as a franchise, I would want it to be as less as possible, right. But there is an opposition (rival franchises), which is there and they want the price to go up. So as I said, it was market determined," Dua explained.

While Dua made it clear that the franchise is behind Yuvraj he did admit that constant reminder of a big price tag affects the player as "they are also human" at the end of the day.

"At the end of day, the hype created, especially by the social media, starts hurting a player and his conscience. You have to understand that players are also human beings. Emotions (outbursts on failure) from all side is bound to affect a player and however big you are, you are only human. That burden does come in somewhere," Dua said, batting for the elegant left-hander, who is now past his prime. He is confident that Yuvraj will come out of his bad patch.

"Being a player that he is, he will overcome it and as a franchise we support him wherever we can. We don't see that as his fault. He is here to perform and is trying his best," the CEO added.

Asked if Yuvraj and Zaheer Khan was in DD's long-term plans considering their age, the CEO seemed non-committal.

"If they are fit and happy to play, we have no problems. But when their bodies give signals it is completely upto them. A career decision is taken by the individual himself and I am no one to comment on that," he said.

PTI