5 most expensive IPL buys
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 will be held from 7 April to 27 May. The auction for the cash-rich tournament took place on Saturday and Sunday. A total of 169 players were sold in the auction ahead of the 11th edition of the league.
While the base prices of the players ranged from 20 lakh to 2 crore Rupees, the most expensive deal of the auction was sealed for 12.5 crore Rupees. Rajasthan Royals spent the amount for signing England all-rounder Ben Stokes. The costliest deal for an Indian player was also grabbed by the Rajasthan based franchise in order to clinch fast-bowler Jaydev Unadkat.
The eight franchises had retained a total of eighteen players before the auction. However, some big names such as Eoin Morgan, Corey Anderson, and Dale Steyn remained unsold.
And here are the 5 most expensive IPL buys in 2018:
#5 Chris Lynn (Rs 9.60 crore)
Australian right-handed batsman Chris Lynn played a total of twelve matches since 2012, seven of which came in the last season. With an average of 49.16, Lynn clubbed a total of 384 runs in 2017.
The batsman was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th edition of the league. KKR decided to buy back the player for a whopping sum of 9.6 crore rupees, using their RTM.
#4 Manish Pandey (Rs 11 crore)
The first Indian to score a ton in the IPL – Manish Pandey has played for a total of four teams in the last ten seasons of the lucrative league. After having a disappointing campaign with the Mumbai Indians in 2008, he was included in the Royal Challengers Bangalore the next year, where he played his IPL career-best innings of 114*.
The right-handed batsman played for Pune Warriors as well. His fourth team – Kolkata Knight Riders bought him in 2014. He played a vital role for the title-winning side in that year receiving the Man of the Match award in the final match for his brilliant knock of 94 runs from 50 deliveries.
In 2017, Manish Pandey made 308 runs at an average of 49.50. However, in 2018’s auction, he bagged a staggering 11 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
#3 KL Rahul (Rs 11 crore)
Opening batsman Lokesh Rahul did not have a great time in India’s recently concluded Test series against South Africa. He scored 30 runs in the 4 innings he had batted against the Proteas. However, he became the 2nd most expensive Indian player in the auction with his price skyrocketing to 11 crores from a base price of 2 crore Rupees.
KL Rahul has a fantastic average of 50.88 in T20Is. He has scored 458 runs in 12 matches for the national team which include one century and three half-centuries as well.
The 25-year-old was richer by 11 crore Rupees when Kings XI Punjab made the winning bid for him.
#2 Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 11.5 crore)
Jaydev Unadkat was phenomenal for the Rising Pune Supergiant last season by taking 22 wickets at an astounding average of 13.41. Coming back from a 2-year exile, the Rajasthan Royals made the final bid after joining the bidding war between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.
The Royals, known for their sensible spending, sealed the deal for 11.5 crore Rupees in order to sign Unadkat. The fast-bowler has scalped a total of 56 wickets in 47 matches in the league since his debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010. He also played for Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore before finally joining the Pune Supergiant team in 2017.
#1 Ben Stokes (Rs 12.5 crore)
Ben Stokes made headlines in the last edition of the IPL for being the most expensive buy [14.5 crore Rs] in 2017. He played for the Rising Pune Supergiant in his only IPL season. However, this year he has bagged a 12.5 crore deal to become the costliest player of IPL 2018 as well.
With a batting average of 31.60, Stokes scored 316 runs in 12 matches in the IPL 2017. He had also picked up 12 wickets in as many games at an average of 26.33. The English all-rounder fetched the biggest deal on Saturday to become a part of the first ever IPL champions – Rajasthan Royals.
