Bangalore, 13/2: The exciting new generation of fearless Indian cricketers landed career-changing jackpot deals as teams splurged big on talented players on an incident-filled opening day of the Indian Premier League mega auction here on Saturday.
Pre-auction favourites Ishan Kishan (Rs 15.25 crore, Mumbai Indians), Shreyas Iyer (Rs 12.25 cr, Kolkata Knight Riders), Shardul Thakur (Rs 10.75 cr, Delhi Capitals) and Deepak Chahar (Rs 14 cr, Chennai Super Kings) — all among the new wave of Indian cricketers slowly becoming household names following their exploits in IPL and international cricket — predictably commanded immense bidding from plenty of suitors along with late bloomers Harshal Patel (Rs 10.75 cr, Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Rahul Tewatia (Rs 9 cr, Gujarat Lions).
Prasidh Krishna (Rs 10 cr, Rajasthan Royals), a fast rising pacer, and his Karnataka team-mate Devdutt Padikkal (Rs 7.75 cr, RR) too saw strong biddings and earned fat pay cheques, as did big-hitting Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan (Rs 9 cr, Punjab Kings) and Madhya Pradesh pacer Avesh Khan (Rs 10 cr, Lucknow Super Giants).
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The biggest mover on Saturday was dashing young wicketkeeper Ishan, who was procured by his previous franchise Mumbai for a whopping Rs 15.25 crore. Ever since Mumbai first bid Rs 6.2 crore for the Jharkhandi in the 2018 auction, the southpaw has been a revelation with his daring batting and good glove work. Having seen his phenomenal rise, Mumbai obviously wanted the 23-year-old back and form the core again.
When his name came up in the evening, Mumbai were the first to raise the paddle along with Punjab Kings. In no time, he touched Rs 7 crore. Punjab pulled out 7.75 crore when Gujarat — one of two new teams this year — threw their hat into the ring. Mumbai, who until then hadn’t made a single purchase, were not ready to let go of a talent they were instrumental in shaping.
Both Gujarat and Mumbai kept raising the paddle until the former pulled out at Rs 14 crore. Mumbai thought they had him but Sunrisers Hyderabad made a late entry, catching the five-time champions by surprise. But Mumbai wanted Kishan at any cost and locked him at Rs 15.25 crore — the fourth highest buy in the history of the auctions.
Like Kishan, it was a homecoming for Chahar. A fine pace bowler who has become a very capable batsman now, Chahar’s career seemed lost around six years ago. Things changed when he joined CSK in 2018, where under the guidance of MS Dhoni he finally realised his true potential and went on to play for India.
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Surprisingly though CSK didn’t show any interest at the start for the 29-year-old from Rajasthan. Delhi and Sunrisers kick-started the bidding. The two kept going back and forth before CSK entered the fray at Rs 11.5 crore. Sunrisers backed out at Rs 12 crore but Capitals remerged. CSK didn’t stop and kept raising the paddle before roping Chahar at Rs 14 crore.
Shreyas, among the early names out of the box, saw RCB, DC and Lucknow wage a strong war before KKR made an entry at Rs 9.25 crore and swooped him for Rs 12.25 crore.
Amongst the 10 teams who endured an exhausting day with the auction delayed by two hours after auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed on stage due to postural hypotension, Delhi looked like having made the best purchases. They roped in David Warner for a mere Rs 6.25 crore — a steal considering the Australian has smashed 50 half-centuries in the IPL and a big draw in social media with his impersonations of Indian actors. With Warner set to open with Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant to bat in the middle-order and Thakur in the lower-order, they perhaps have amongst the strongest batting sides.
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Amongst the foreign players, West Indian Nicholas Pooran and Sri Lankan Wanindu Hasaranga were the most expensive buys on the day, both sold for whopping Rs 10.75 crore each. While Sunrisers broke the bank for Pooran, an attacking batsman, RCB procured highly rated spinning all-rounder Hasaranga for a second straight season.
The auction will resume 12 noon on Sunday with Set 18 and then proceed with the accelerated process where teams have to submit a maximum of 20 players of their choice who they wish to buy by 9 am.