When he came out at the end of day two, he had his favourite moment to share from the entire event. "It was when the entire crowd broke into applause when Kings XI Punjab bought Chris Gayle," he says, sounding as enthusiastic as he did while calling out each one of those 581 players up for auction. Gayle, once an expensive player, had remained unsold in previous two rounds.

Bengaluru: When the IPL auctions 2018 came to an end on Sunday, Richard Madley was a relieved man. It was a two day long marathon for the 'umpire' of the event - auctioneer of IPL since 2008.

The 60-year-old was standing behind a podium for two days with a hammer older than IPL and which may find it's place in an Indian cricket museum in future.

When he came out at the end of day two, he had his favourite moment to share from the entire event. "It was when the entire crowd broke into applause when Kings XI Punjab bought Chris Gayle," he says, sounding as enthusiastic as he did while calling out each one of those 581 players up for auction. Gayle, once an expensive player, had remained unsold in previous two rounds.

Madley's tryst with auctioning began decades before he was brought in by Lalit Modi to auction IPL when it began. In 1978 to be precise. In the following three decades he has sold paintings, antiques, memorabilia and more for millions.

"My father was an auctioneer, my father-in-law too. It runs in my blood," says Madley who hails from Wales.

Amongst them is his auction for the collection of cricket memorabilia that belonged to British cricket commentator Brian Johnston.

"Johnston's wife asked me to auction his collection after his death in 1994. I sold the finest collection of cricket memorabilia. Bats, balls, paintings, historic pieces," Madley recalls.

But Madley's auction for a bronze piece is what he calls one of the most memorable. Says Madley, "A woman asked me to sell this bronze piece in order to fund for her nursing school. After a lot of bidding, it was sold for much more than expected. So much so that she burst out crying sitting in the first row. It was way more than the base price".

Fast forward to 2008, Madley was auctioning Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who turned out to be the most expensive cricketer of that tournament.

Like any other event, Madley points out, there could be incidents during these auctioning too. "Having an auction devoid of them is the challenge. For example, a franchise could bid after I have hammered a player which has happened twice before. There is no second or third umpire like in cricket. Also, I am watched by thousands so I need to be careful to ensure things don't go out of hand. I must be firm, fair and friendly," he adds.

However, of all that he has auctioned, Madley calls the IPL auction unique. "It is not because of the money involved but it is truly unique. Anyone would have said it is a crazy idea before it began. I'd love to keep coming back, watch more IPL, spend more time in India auctioning," says Madley as he sets to return home.