IPL mega Auction - A total of Rs 639.15 crore spent | 182 players sold | No takers for 395 players | Rishabh Pant most expensive buy @ Rs 27 crore
Veteran India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar fetched a whopping Rs 10.75 crore from RCB while Bihar's Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest crorepati, at 13, as the Indian Premier League auction concluded after an action-packed Day 2 in Jeddah on Monday.
In the two-day affair, a total of Rs 639.15 crore were spent by the 10 franchises combined as 182 players were sold.
395 players remained unsold at the mega auction.
Suryavanshi, the teenage prodigy, who made his T20 debut for Bihar in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was picked by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore.
In a surprise, Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw and Shardul Thakur found no takers at the auction while veteran Ajinkya Rahane, who had gone unsold earlier in the day, returned late and was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1.50 crore.
New Zealand stars Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips were also among the unsold players on Day 2.
The day however belonged to Bhuvneshwar. Out of national reckoning for more than two years, Bhuvneshwar's experience was in demand among the IPL franchises.
Bhuvneshwar, who will be 35 before the start of next IPL, has 300 wickets from 287 career T20 games and an economy rate of less than eight. But he last played for India during a tour of New Zealand in November 2022 and is considered well past his prime at the international level. However, with at least three Indian pacers needed per team, the pool is not large enough to ensure equal distribution among the 10 teams.
Therefore, an out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar, an injury-prone Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore for Mumbai Indians) and a Test reserve Mukesh Kumar (Rs 8 crore RTM by Delhi Capitals) got good deals on the second day when franchises came with leaner purse after splurging on Sunday.
Akash Deep, the Test pacer, got a Rs 8 crore deal from Lucknow Super Giants.
Even a Tushar Deshpande, who has an economy rate of close to 10 runs per over, was snapped by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 6.50 crore. He is currently recuperating from an ankle operation.
Former RCB skipper Faf du Plessis became the biggest bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at a base price of Rs two crore while Gujarat Titans were smart to lap up India all-rounder Washington Sundar for Rs 3.20 crore.
Englishman Sam Curran, who had once attracted a Rs 18 crore bid, only had a couple of takers with CSK bringing him back home at Rs 2.40 crore.
Hardik Pandya's brother Krunal Pandya got a Rs 5.75 crore deal from RCB who needed an experienced spin bowling all-rounder.
Nitish Rana, who had once breached the million dollar mark as an uncapped player, got a Rs 4.20 crore winning bid from Rajasthan Royals.
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