Mumbai: Indian batter Ishan Kishan became the highest-paid cricketer at the two-day Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Player Auctions which concluded in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Kishan also emerged as the most expensive wicket-keeper in the IPL auctions so far, and the second-highest-paid Indian cricketer in IPL auctions after Yuvraj Singh who had won the highest bid at Rs 16 crore.
As many as 204 new players, including 67 overseas players were sold with the ten franchises splurging close to Rs 5.52 billion at the mega auctions. Two new teams, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants who are gearing up to make their debut this season also entered the bidding war for the first time.
The event saw some of the brightest bigwigs of world cricket go under the hammer. Wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan witnessed intense bidding, with Mumbai Indians winning the final bid. Deepak Chahar returned to CSK for Rs 10 crore and became the most-expensive Indian pace-bowler to be ever-bought at the IPL Auction.
Young Indian cricketers dominated the mega auctions this year, while several international cricketers went unsold. Delhi Capitals' right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer was also among the highest-paid cricketers and joined Knight Riders for a whopping Rs 12.25 crore. Apart from Iyer, other Indian players including Harshal Patel, Krunal Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar also saw intense bidding.
The new entrant Lucknow Super Giants clinched all-rounder Deepak Hooda for Rs 5.75 crore, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder for Rs 8.75 crore, Manish Pandey for Rs 4.6 crore, Quinton De Kock for Rs 6.75 crore, and Krunal Pandya for Rs 8.25 crore. Gujarat Titans clinched Jason Roy for Rs two crore, Indian pacer Mohammad Shami for Rs 6.25 crore.
Australian bowler Pat Cummins who fetched a whopping Rs 15.5 crore to be the most expensive buy at the 2020 IPL auction and was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders' side for the last two seasons will continue with KKR for Rs 7.25 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders also claimed Nitish Rana for Rs eight crore.
Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasiranga, Nicholas Pooran, and Lockie Ferguson were some of the international players who made merry at the auctions. Avesh Khan became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of the IPL, thanks to Lucknow Super Giants which made the winning bid of Rs 10 crore.
Harshal Patel joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 10.25 crore, after attracting huge bids from other teams. Shimron Hitmyer will also join him and play for RCB for Rs 8.5 crore, alongwith Faf Du Plessis for Rs seven crore.
Chennai Superkings (CSK) retained DJ Bravo for Rs 4.40 crore, Robin Uthappa for Rs 2 crore. Punjab Kings bought Kagiso Rabada for Rs 9.25 crore. Rajasthan Royals clinched Devdutt Paddikal for Rs 7.75 crore, Trent Boult for Rs eight crore, R Ashwin for Rs five crore. Delhi Capitals won David Warner for Rs 6.25 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad brought Washington Sunder into the team for Rs 8.75 crore after aggressive bidding.
Steve Smith, Suresh Raina, David Miller, Matthew Wade, Mohammad Nabi were some of the players who remained unsold. The first day’s proceedings were halted for an hour after auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed on stage, and resumed with former cricketer Charu Sharma taking the stage.
