IPL 2022 is around the corner with a new brand, new teams, new twists, and shockers. The battle upcoming season, which will be the 15th edition of what has been one of the most celebrated leagues, is in the making as the teams are busy building up their battalion. The auction for the upcoming season has been scheduled to take place on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru and as per the schedule, the teams took the table of trade on Saturday and within some time into the auction, the event had a setback after the auctioneer had suddenly collapsed.  

Renowned auctioneer Hugh Edmeades, who has become a familiar face in India through his IP auctions, was into his business on Saturday when the franchises were pitching to induct players. Everything was going well until Edmeades began auctioning Sri Lankan player Wanindu Hasaranga. There was a battle between  Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings to pick Hasaranga and during the action, Edmeades had suddenly collapsed on the floor and the teams had gone stunned over a dreadful incident. 

According to reports, Edmeades was immediately attended by a medical team and the auction event was halted. He has collapsed due to Postural Hypotension and has been under treatment. In a statement, the IPL management has said, "Mr Hugh Edmeades, the IPL Auctioneer, had an unfortunate fall due to Postural Hypotension during the IPL Auction this afternoon." 

"The medical team attended to him immediately after the incident & he is stable. Mr Charu Sharma will continue with the Auction proceedings today", the statement added. As per the announcement, Charu Sharma had resumed the auction, which has drawn great attention from across the nation on how would be bought by which team. Edmeades's health setback has become the talk of the nation. 

He was put through a medical check-up and it was found that he is doing fine. A BCCI source told PTI, "He has been attended to by a doctor. He is doing fine, his blood pressure dropped suddenly and that was the reason for his sudden collapse. We will know more once he has a thorough check-up." Later, the BCCI spokesperson said, "He is stable and we will give further updates later." Charu Sharma, who was the CEO of the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise during the IPL's first season, has resumed the auction. 

Who is Hugh Edmeades? 

A native of Britain, 62-year-old Edmeades is a popular auctioneer in the world of fine art, classic car, historical artefacts, and charity. He has completed deals in excess of 2.7 billion pounds. According to reports, Edmeades had conducted the auction of 88 guitars that belonged to Eric Clapton. The auction had raised a total of $7,438,624. Edmeades had also auctioned Daniel Craig's Aston Martin DB10 from James Bond's Spectre movie for 2,434,500 UK Pounds in 2016.

He was also the auctioneer at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Gala in London. With a key profile into auctioning, Edmeades had joined the IPL in 2018 and replaced his fellow compatriot Richard Madley and Edmeades has been part of several auction events across the globe. In a record-breaking career, Edmeades had led more than 2,500 auctions. 

Speaking to Inside Sport earlier, Edmeades said, "During my 38 years as an auctioneer, I have taken plenty of two-day auctions, but admittedly, none lasting a potential 12+ hours. However, I am not at all fazed by the prospect of being on my feet for six hours each day. Mentally and physically, I will be splitting the sessions into bite-size pieces and taking the opportunities to regroup during the breaks in the auction." As he has faced a health setback, several IPL teams are wishing Edmeades to have a speedy recovery.