Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat and Chris Woakes fetched big bucks.
Unlike last year, specialist batsmen triggered bidding wars and the likes of Manish Pandey and KL Rahul fetched Rs 11 crore each. Jaydev Unadkat, at Rs 11.5 crore to Rajasthan Royals, turned out to be most expensive Indian seamer ever.
The IPL 2018 Auction that reached its conclusion on Sunday gave us a glimpse into how each team is planning for the upcoming season. There were some speculations that were confirmed, such as Gautam Gambhir’s move to Delhi Daredevils and they were coupled with a few unexpected twists. It was vastly different from the auctions that were held last year with 169 players being sold over the course of the weekend. Here is a lowdown on some trends that could be observed in the marathon affair.
Also read: It was like a filmy twist, says Jaydev Unadkat on Rs 11.5 crore bid
All rounders remain the attraction: They bat, they bowl and some of them are brilliant fielders. There have been very few all-rounders who came in the auction and went unsold. Ben Stokes again topped the charts at Rs 12.5 crore, which is lesser than the Rs 14.5 crore paid by Rising Pune Supergiant last year. Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Krunal Pandya, all were sold after a rigorous round of bidding. If anything, there are more recognised all-rounders in the top 10 buys this year than there were last time with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Krunal Pandya featuring apart from Woakes and Stokes.
Batsmen back among big buys: Last season, pacers or fast-bowling all-rounders took up most of the places in the top 10 most expensive buys. While fast bowlers remain hot property, specialist batsmen have once again picked up in value. KL Rahul went for Rs 11 crore and so did Manish Pandey. Kolkata Knight Riders have spent Rs 9.6 crore to keep Chris Lynn. But pacers can change matches in T20 cricket and that reality is clearly not lost on the team owners. Ben Stokes, the most expensive buy from the auction for the second successive year, Chris Woakes, Jaydev Unadkat and Mitchell Starc all fetched big bucks.
Ben Stokes was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12.5 crore. (Express Archive)
Wicketkeepers sell for crores or don’t sell at all: In a way, the auctions were a reflection of how tricky life as a wicketkeeper can be. The least expensive of the keepers who were sold this year was Ambati Rayadu and he went to CSK for Rs 2.2 crore. With the exception of the Mumbai Indians, who bought Ishan Kishan, one can see that the team owners decided to play it safe and take seasoned campaigners into their ranks. The teams did fill the slots with some uncapped stumpers towards the fag end but the likes of Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu triggered bidding wars.
The Veterans: Age is normally inversely proportional to cost in the world of sports and the IPL is no different as it turns out. Most players with big names but on the wrong side of 30 struggled to fetch suiters or did not find any at all. Yuvraj Singh was bought for Rs 2 crore by Kings XI Punjab, a far cry from the Rs 16 crore he costed for Delhi Daredevils to get him just two seasons ago and Rs 7 crore last year for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Chris Gayle’s introduction into the IPL came when RCB signed him in place of injured Dirk Nannes in 2011. They have guarded him since then but this time he had to brought three times into the auction to be sold at his base price. Lasith Malinga has gone through a quick and very noticeable deterioration over the past couple of years and went unbid for the very first time. Gautam Gambhir costed KKR more than Rs 15 crore in 2011 and has now been sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 2.8 crore. Harbhajan Singh, who was with Mumbai Indians for 10 years, was not retained by the team and went to Chennai Super Kings at his base price of Rs 2 crore.
Get latest updates on IPL 2025 from IPL Points Table to Teams, Schedule, Most Runs and Most Wickets along with live cricket score updates for all matches. Also get Sports news and more cricket updates.
4 min read
