The IPL Mega Auction was held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The auction proved to be truly mega for Indian players, as the top five most expensive players were from India. This is the first time in the history of the auction. For the first time, two players' bids crossed 25 crores.
The auction also saw many more surprising decisions. IPL champion captain David Warner and Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur could not find a buyer. English all-rounder Sam Curran is priced at Rs. 16.10 crore, while 13-year-old uncapped batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to become a millionaire in the IPL.
Auction's Top 5 Surprises in Story
1. Venkatesh's price increased 3 times The prices of India's Venkatesh Iyer and Afghanistan's Noor Ahmed left everyone stunned. Kolkata bought Venkatesh for Rs 23.75 crore, he played for KKR last season. However, at that time his salary was only 8 crore rupees, this time he got 3 times more amount.
Bengaluru also bid for Venkatesh, but in the end KKR won out. He scored a fifty in the IPL final against Hyderabad last season. Venkatesh has scored 1326 runs for KKR in 51 matches at a strike rate of 137.12.
2. No use of RTM on Will Jacks and use of Gujarat card on Noor Ahmed The purchase of England's Will Jacks and Afghanistan's Noor Ahmed also surprised. Jackson was bought by Mumbai for Rs 5.25 crore and Noor by Chennai for Rs 10 crore.
In the auction, Mumbai bid Rs 5.25 crore on Jacks, RCB could have used the right-to-match card here, but they refused. RCB also had a lot of money in their purse. After this decision, MI's Akash Ambani got up from his table and went to shake hands with the RCB owner. Jacks scored 230 runs at a strike rate of 175.57 in 8 matches for RCB last season.
Chennai had bid 5 crore rupees in the auction for cargo from Afghanistan. Here Gujarat used RTM. Chennai was asked to make the final bid, with the team directly bidding Rs 10 crore. Gujarat refused and Noor joined CSK for just Rs 10 crore. Noor was bought for Rs 30 lakh last season, this time his salary has increased by almost 33 times.
3. 13-year-old Vaibhav became an uncapped millionaire Many uncapped players also became millionaires in the auction. Among them, the name of 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the most shocking. Rajasthan and Delhi bid for it at a base price of 30 lakhs. Rajasthan eventually bought him for Rs 1.10 crore. With this he became the youngest millionaire in the history of IPL.
Vaibhav plays domestic cricket for Bihar and made his first class debut. The left-handed opening batsman also scored a century in an unofficial Test against the Australia Under-19 team two months ago. Hence, his name rose rapidly, which also benefited him in auctions.
4. Shardul-Warner remains unsold David Warner, who led Hyderabad to IPL champions in 2016, did not find a buyer in the auction. He played for Delhi last season, scoring only 168 runs in 8 matches. He has scored 6565 runs in 184 matches of his IPL career.
All-rounder Shardul Thakur also remained unsold, his name came up for auction twice, but no team bid. Shardul was bought by Kolkata in 2023 for Rs 10 crore. He managed to take only 5 wickets in 9 matches for CSK last season. He has taken 307 runs and 94 wickets in 95 career matches.
5. 7.7 times reduction in cost of Karan, Stark also came in at half price Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who fetched the highest price in the 2023 mini-auction, did not fetch even half the price this time. At the same time, Sam Karan, which was sold for Rs 18.50 crore, has reduced by 7.7 times this time. CSK paid Karan only Rs. Bought for Rs 2.40 crore, he took 16 wickets in 13 matches last season. Sam Karan will now get Rs 16.10 crore less.
Starc was bought by KKR for Rs 24.75 crore last season. This time Delhi bought him for Rs 11.75 crore. Its price has dropped by 47.69%, taking it to a full Rs. 13 crore will be less. Which is the lowest among players this time after Karan.
Also Read This Mega Auction News…
182 players sold, cost 639.15 crores: Rishabh Pant most expensive player in history, Vaibhav youngest to score century at 13
The 2-day long IPL Mega Auction has concluded in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 182 players were sold in the auction, of which 62 are foreign players. Right to match was used 8 times. 10 Franchise Rs. 639.15 crore was spent. …
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
