New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab, co-owned by Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Mohit Burman, outspent rival teams in the players’ auction for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that ended on Sunday, splurging a total of Rs67.4 crore on 20 players. IPL’s eight franchisees spent a combined Rs431.7 crore for 169 players, including 56 from outside India.
On Sunday, the Punjab franchise spent Rs21.8 crore, for 11 players including Andrew Tye for Rs7.2 crore and Chris Gayle for Rs2 crore. On day one, the franchise spent Rs45.6 crore and bought right hand batsman K.L. Rahul for Rs11 crore, their most expensive purchase ahead of season 11. The team also picked up Ravichandran Ashwin for Rs7.6 crore.
The team bid for Australian all rounder Marcus Stoinis and batsman Aaron Finch for Rs6.2 crore each. It picked up Indian batsman Karun Nair for Rs5.6 crore, who had a base price of Rs50 lakh. The team, which earlier this month retained only one player—all rounder Axar Patel—also bought batsmen David Miller and Yuvraj Singh on Saturday. Singh was sold at his base price of Rs2 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, owned by Manoj Badale, spent Rs65.85 crore in the two-day auction for 22 players. On day 2, the franchise picked up Indian bowler Jaydev Unadkat and Krishnappa Gowtham for Rs11.5 crore and Rs6.2 crore, respectively. Unadkat is the most expensive Indian in this auction.
Rajasthan Royals bought English all-rounder Ben Stokes at Rs12.5 crore against a base price of Rs2 crore. Last year, he was bought by Rising Pune Supergiant for Rs14.5 crore. He is the most expensive foreign player for the second year in a row.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders spent Rs59 crore for 17 players. The team made an ambitious bet on Australian batsman Chris Lynn and fast bowler Mitchell Starc for Rs9.6 crore and Rs9.4 crore, respectively. Its most expensive Indian player is wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik at Rs7.4 crore and Robin Uthappa at Rs6.4 crore. KKR picked up four uncapped Indian players after an intense bidding war in the evening session on Saturday. It bought all rounders Nitish Rana and Kamlesh Nagarkoti for Rs3.4 crore and Rs3.2 crore, respectively.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bought the maximum number of players: 23. Indian batsman Manish Pandey and Afghan bowler Rashid Khan were also among the top buys at the auction by Sunrisers. The team owned by Kalanithi Maran spent Rs11 crore and Rs9 crore for the players, respectively. It also bought Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan, and many uncapped players.
Royal Challengers Bangalore bought 21 players for Rs48.85 crore. On day two, it bought all-rounder Washington Sundar for Rs3.2 crore Mohammed Siraj for Rs2.6 crore and Nathan Coulter-Nile for Rs2.2 crore. Englishman Chris Woakes and New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum were the top international players in the team for Rs7.4 crore and Rs3.4 crore, respectively.
Delhi Daredevils, owned by GMR, purchased 22 players by Sunday, mostly young uncapped players such as Sandeep Lamichhane, starting with Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell at Rs9 crore.
Gautam Gambhir, who originally started his IPL career with the team, was purchased back for Rs2. 8 crore. The team strengthened its bowling by purchasing Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami and Kagiso Rabada.
Last season’s winners, Mumbai Indians, bought 22 players and bid more aggressively on day two. The team bid for uncapped Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya, who was bought using the right to match card for a whopping Rs8.8 crore, and Kieron Pollard for Rs5.4 crore. Indian uncapped wicket keeper-batsman Ishan Kishan was bought for Rs6.2 crore.
Chennai Super Kings, which returns to IPL after two years with M.S. Dhoni, also bought 22 players in the auction. On day two, its big purchases included Murali Vijay and Mark Wood. It picked up Indian all rounder Kedar Jadhav for Rs7.8 crore, much higher than his base price of Rs2 crore.
West Indies all rounder Dwayne Bravo was also sold to Chennai for Rs6.4 crore.The team also picked up Harbhajan Singh at his base price of Rs2 crore and Shane Watson at Rs4 crore.
A noticeable trend in this year’s auction was that teams picked younger Indian players from the uncapped category compared to established names in international cricket.