Pat Cummins attracted the highest bid at the IPL 2020 auction in Kolkata on Thursday with Kolkata Knight Riders splashing Rs 15.55 cr to get him on board. A total of 338 players will go under the hammer at the IPL auction. At the start of the auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore (12) had the most number of slots to fill and were followed by Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals who all had to get 11 players on board.
The auction, one before the mega auction slated next year, did see a few teams with nearly half of their allotted sum available and while there were a few smart buys, there were quite a few names who were on the happier side of the windfall owing to a tussle between multiple teams. Here’s a list of the most expensive players so far:
1. Pat Cummins - Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 15.5cr)
Kolkata Knight Riders got the lanky fast bowler on their roster for a mammoth Rs 15.5 cr. Although the bidding war initially emerged out between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders were a late customer when the bid had reached Rs 14.5 crore. However, KKR upped the ante and as the hammer hit the board, Cummins became the most expensive overseas player in the history of IPL.
2. Glenn Maxwell - Kings XI Punjab (Rs 10.75cr)
The explosive Australian was sold at a whooping Rs 10.75 cr to Kings XI Punjab who were without a captain and might be the one they turn to at the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.
3. Chris Morris - Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 10cr)
The South African bowling all-rounder had a base price of Rs 1.5 cr but saw his fortune increase by more than six times as Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore entered into a race to have him on board. However, a late entry from Mumbai Indians ensured he touches the Rs 10-crore mark when both MI and KXIP backed out. Although he didn’t have an exciting IPL last season, he has picked up 44 wickets in 36 matches at 24.86 this year.
4. Sheldon Cottrell - Kings XI Punjab (Rs 8.5cr)
That salute cost Kings XI Punjab Rs 8.5crore! His miserly economy rate of 7.46 in 83 T20 matches is surely a factor that the management had on their mind when they roped in the West Indian for that astronomical sum. Death-bowling is a key area in the shortest format of the game and Cottrell will pair up well with India fast bowler Mohammed Shami.
5. Nathan Coulter-Nile - Mumbai Indians (Rs 8cr)
On a good day for the Australians at the IPL auction, Nathan Coulter-Nile joined the windfall by getting sold at eight times his base price. Mumbai Indians seemed to have badly required his services as they were the ones to open the bid and despite starting the day with just Rs 13.05 in their bank, they went all out for the all-rounder.
6. Shimron Hetmyer - Delhi Capitals (Rs 7.75cr)
The explosive West Indian was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the IPL auction but his explosive batting style always meant he wouldn’t go unsold. He hit a match-winning century against India in Chennai in the first ODI of the ongoing five-match series and thus, despite having a base price of just Rs 50 lakh, he triggered a massive tussle between the franchises. It will be interesting to see if Delhi Capitals go ahead with Prithvi Shaw and Hetmyer to start their innings in the upcoming IPL.
7. Piyush Chawla - Chennai Super Kings (Rs 6.75cr)
Having been released by Kolkata Knight Riders, Chawla was one of the big names available in the market among spinners and Chennai Super Kings made no mistake to rope in the India international who will be handy for them at home . It’s indeed a smart buy for the three-time IPL champions who had to fend off competition from Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab to have him on board.
8. Sam Curran - Chennai Super Kings (Rs 5.5cr)
The 21-year-old Englishman was released by Kings XI Punjab ahead of the auction after having snapped him up for a mouth-watering Rs 7.2 crore in the previous auction. Curran has been one of the most impressive bowlers in the circuit for quite a few years now and on Thursday fittingly became the most expensive English player in the IPL. Chennai Super Kings have been focusing on international pacers and they continued the trend to land the southpaw, who besides picking 10 wickets in nine IPL matches last season, had also scored a half-century against Kolkata Knight Riders.
9. Eoin Morgan - Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 5.25cr)
The limited-overs skipper of England was swooped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 5.25 crore. A solid middle order batsman, the English skipper will provide the role of a perfect finisher alongside Andre Russell who had to often take up that role all by himself for the former champions in the last edition of the IPL.
10. Marcus Stoinis - Delhi Capitals (Rs 4.8cr)
It was an exciting two-way tussle for the Australian all-rounder but Delhi Capitals pipped Rajasthan Royals as Marcus Stoinis joined the former at Rs 4.8 cr at the IPL auction. Stoinis was one of the 11 names released by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the auction. He had a decent run in the IPL last season as a middle-order batsman, scoring 211 runs besides picking two wickets. But in the Big Bash, where he plays for Melbourne Renegades, Stonis slammed 553 runs at a strike rate of 130.63 as an opener.
11. Aaron Finch - Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 4.4cr)
Royal Challengers Bangalore coughed up Rs 4.4 crore to bag the services of Australia’s limited-overs skipper. Finch has quite a bit of an experience in the IPL and has played 75 matches so far across nine seasons. Although he’s yet to score a century, but 13 half-centuries at a strike rate of 130.69 is quite a handsome number and his exploits should come in handy for a team who play their home games at Chinnaswamy Stadium, one of the smaller parks in the country.
12. Varun Chakravarthy - Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 4cr)
The mystery spinner will be in the KKR dugout in the upcoming season after he was sold to the former champions for Rs 4 crore. One of the most expensive buys in the IPL auction last season, Chakravarthy will join the likes of Sunil Narine and Kuleep Yadav to provide width to the attack. KKR had released Piyush Chawla to open up slots for a spinner in the side.
13. Kane Richardson - Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 4cr)
The Australian fast bowler headed back to the RCB camp after the Virat Kohli-led side made a late bid for the players they had released ahead of the auction. Richardson is an experienced campaigner and will be expected to help turn the fortunes for a side who are looking to lift the IPL trophy for the first time in their history. In 14 IPL matches so far, Richardson has 18 wickets in his kitty at an average of 24.61
14. Robin Uthappa - Rajasthan Royals (Rs 3cr)
The former Kolkata Knight Riders opener was sold to Rajasthan Royal for Rs 3 crore. Kings XI Punjab had entered the tussle for the Kerala captain but eventually backed out of the auction. Uthappa’s base price was Rs 1.5 cr.
15. Jaydev Unadkat - Rajasthan Royals (Rs 3cr)
The most expensive buy at the IPL auction last year along with Varun Chakravarthy, Unadkat began with a base price of 1 crore. Delhi Capitals joined in the biddding war before Rajasthan Royals seemed to have their man back for the upcoming season. Kings XI Punjab, who require a few quality pacers in the side did jump in the bandwagon but had to let go eventually as RR seemed determined to go all the way.
16. Chris Jordan - Kings XI Punjab (Rs 3cr)
The Englishman was sold to Kings XI Punjab thus adding more width to their attack whch only had Mohammed Shami as the most prominent name ahead of the IPL auction. Although he hasn’t really earned a name for himself in the razzmatazz league so far, having played just 11 games across three seasons, the 31-year-old from Barbados recently helped England clinch the T20I series against New Zealand after first smashing 12 off three balls to tie the match before defending 17 besides picking up a wicket in the super over.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)