Ben stokes another IPL bidding war
IPL AUCTION DAY 1 Ben Stokes tops chart as Gayle, Root go unsold; teams train eyes on emerging Indian talent
BENGALURU: England all-rounder Ben Stokes topped the Indian Premier League auction for the second year, bought by Rajasthan Royals for ₹12.5 crore on Day 1 of the players’ auction on Saturday. He went to Rising Pune Supergiant for ₹14.5 crore last year.
Teams used the Right-toMatch card to buy back their former players at the highest bidding price, spicing up the auction.
India opener KL Rahul and fellow Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey were the two to breach the ₹10 crore mark, bought by KXIP and Sunrisers for ₹11 crore each. The others to touch ₹9 crore were Australians Mitchell Starc (₹9.4 crore – KKR), Chris Lynn (₹9.6 crore – KKR), Glenn Maxwell (₹9 crore – DD) and Rashid Khan (₹9 crore – SRH).
Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan was retained for ₹9 crore by Sunrisers.
Chris Gayle, the face of global T20 revolution, and Lasith Malinga, IPL’s highest wickettaker, went unsold.
BANGALORE: The IPL auction on Saturday saw players become a great deal wealthier thanks to an increase in salary caps. Living up to the hype of being the biggest auction since the opening edition, teams didn’t hold back.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was the day’s biggest pick. Despite uncertainty over his availability, Rajasthan Royals shelled out ~12.5 crore for him. Manish Pandey and KL Rahul were the others to breach the ~10 crore-mark. The Indian batting stars were bought for ~11 cr each, by SRH and KXIP, respectively.
The record for an uncapped player was broken when Mumbai Indians used the Right-To-Match card to get all-rounder Krunal Pandya for ~8.8 crore, bettering the ~8.5 cr DD paid for Pawan Negi in 2016.
Off-spinner R Ashwin severed ties with CSK. He was bought by Kings XI Punjab for ~7.6 cr. Rising Pune Supergiant captain Steven Smith and Ben Stokes will team up for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018. (BCCI)
Stokes wasn’t the only foreign star to enjoy a big pay day. KKR paid big bucks for Australians Chris Lynn (~9.6 cr) and Mitchell Starc (~9.4 cr). The bidding war for Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan soared to ~9 cr but SRH used the RTM card for their discovery of IPL 2017.
Some big names also went unsold. Chris Gayle had no buyers, and that was the case with IPL’s highest wicket-taker Lasith Malinga. The teams can call them to bid afresh on Sunday.
As promised, franchises paid equal focus on uncapped and unknown names. The biggest surprise was Ishan Kishan. The 19-year-old keeper-batsman from Jharkhand would have looked in disbelief when Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore went all out to get him. It ended with MI getting him for ~6.2 cr.
Ishan was captain of U-19 World Cup India team in 2016, and is in the similar mould as Rishabh Pant. An explosive opener, he helped his cause by smashing a half-century against Punjab in the recent Mushtaq Ali T20.
Three players from the India U-19 team became crorepatis. Kamlesh Nagarkoti, the Rajasthan fast bowler who is making a splash at the U-19 World Cup, went for ~3.2 crore to KKR, captain Prithvi Shaw for ~1.2 crore (DD) and batsman Shubman Gill for ~1.8 cr (KKR).
In all, 19 uncapped players went for ~1 crore or more.
GAMBHIR TO LEAD DD
There were not many takers for veteran Indian players, who were in the marquee list. Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were picked up at their base price. Gautam Gambhir had a couple of bids before Delhi Daredevils got him for ~2.8 crore. Gambhir, however, had some good news. Released by KKR, he was announced captain by Delhi coach Ricky Ponting.