New Delhi: Indian Premier League 2022 is currently undergoing a mega auction. This year, the auction has two new bidders namely Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. Ishan Kishan has emerged as the most expensive player at the IPL 2022 auction as Mumbai Indians bought him for Rs 15.25 crore suppressing Shreyash Iyer who was bought at Rs 12.25 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was the first player to go under the hammer. After a tight fight with Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings bought him for Rs 8.25 crore.
A total of 600 cricketers will be auctioned during the two-day mega event of TATA IPL auction 2022 that will be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. Among them, 229 are capped players, 364 are uncapped while seven belong to the Associate nations.
Shreyas Iyer being this year’s most expensive marquee player so far, let’s take a look at the previous expensive players in the history of the league:
1) Chris Morris – Rs 16.25 Crore
The all-rounder emerged as the most expensive player in the history of IPL when Rajasthan Royals secured him at the IPL mini-auction 2021. The South African all-rounder was amidst a tight bidding war which raised his base price from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 16.25 crore. He was the leading wicket-taker for the Royals in the season that followed, taking 15 wickets in 11 matches. However, he was poor with his bat scoring 67 runs with an average of 13.40.
2) Yuvraj Singh – Rs 16 Crore
In 2015, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) roped Yuvraj Singh at a whopping Rs 16 crore, following a year after Royal Challengers Bangalore made a successful bid of Rs 14 crore for him. However, the player failed to perform his best, scoring 248 runs at an average of 19.07 and a striking rate of 118.09.
In 2016, the all-rounder was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 7 crore and had a couple of good seasons with the team. The world cup champion retired from the league in 2019.
3) Pat Cummins – Rs 15.5 Crore
The Australian pacer was the most expensive overseas acquisition after Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for Rs 15.5 crore in 2020. The player kept his promise by giving a great performance for the team. He scalped 12 wickets for KKR and was well with his bat but scoring quick-fire fifty batting at number 7. In 2021 as well, he scalped nine wickets from seven matches while scoring 66 runs off 34 deliveries against Chennai Super Kings. However, this year, the player has not been included in the list of retention players by KKR.
4) Kyle Jamieson – Rs 15 Crore
Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore bought the Kiwi player for Rs 15 crore in the 2021 IPL auction. The base price of the player was Rs 15 lakh. Although his exceptional performance as an ODI debut cricketer against India with the best bowling figures (6/7) did not prove his worth in the IPL matches. His performance was patchy with an economy of 9.60. He was dropped from the remaining season owing to his bad performance.
5) Ben Stokes – Rs 14.5 Crore
In 2017, the Rising Pune Supergiant bought England all-rounder at Rs 14.5 crore in the IPL. He paid justice to the team by giving an extraordinary performance of 316 runs at a striking rate of 142.98 and also smashed a match-winning century off 63 deliveries. He also scalped 12 wickets at 7.18 runs an over in his team’s run to the final. Thus, it was not surprising when in the following season Rajasthan Royals bagged him for Rs 12.5 crore.
