Pawan Negi, 2016. T Natarajan, 2017. Krunal Pandya, 2018.
Every year, the IPL auction throws up a bumper pay-day for at least a handful of Indian domestic cricketers, relatively unknown to the world.
This year, the names Varun Chakravarthy and Shivam Dube get added to that list.
The two unheralded players saw their humble base price of Rs 20 lakh sky-rocket into orbit at the IPL 2019 Auction in Jaipur on Tuesday, 18 December.
Here’s all you need to know about the two newest rags-to-riches stories from the IPL’s stables.
Varun Chakravarthy
A story to amuse, and inspire.
An avid player during his school days, Varun decided to leave the game and take up a regular job. But the passion for the sport could only be suppressed for so long, and at the age of 25, he decided to foray back into the game.
Two years later, he is a proud recipient of a Rs 8.40 crore pay-cheque at the IPL 2019 Auction – the figure Kings XI Punjab deemed fit for the mystery spinner hailing from Karaikudi Kaalai in Tamil Nadu.
The 27-year-old possesses some seven variations in his bowling armour, one he utilised with aplomb at both the top and the death in the 2018 edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
“It is a big opportunity for me. I can’t express my happiness in words. I hope to learn a lot from people like Ravichandran Ashwin, who is the captain of Kings XI Punjab and the others. I can pick the brains of leading international stars and use it to become a better cricketer”Varun Chakravarthy
Varun’s economy rate at the TNPL was a superb 4.7; he went better in the group stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, conceding only 4.23 runs an over while being the leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets in nine matches.
The lanky bowler in fact was designing buildings a few years ago, having completed his Bachelors in Architecture degree from SRM University in Chennai.
He initially bowled medium-pace before taking up spin. However, injury forced him to give up bowling medium-pace and turn to spin and his fortunes changed as he began to make an impact in the highly competitive city league.
Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube made headlines after he clobbered veteran leggie Pravin Tambe for five sixes in an over during the eliminator of the Mumbai T20 league earlier this year. After setting a base price of INR 20 lakhs for himself, Dube failed to crack the auction ahead of IPL 2018 in January. Months later, his fortunes have flipped.
Dube was snared by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 5 crore – a whopping 2500% value hike on his Rs 20 lakh base price.
The 25-year-old all-rounder made his T20 debut for Mumbai during the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In 13 T20s that he has played so far, the southpaw has scored at a strike rate of almost 150 and has also picked up 10 scalps.
His heroics have even impressed former cricketers, with Sunil Gavaskar going as far as comparing the explosive batsman to the likes of Saurav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.
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