12 unexpected players who set the IPL auction on fire

The Indian Premier League is the undisputed king of T20 leagues and an integral part of the league is the player auction. It often rains money and there have been beneficiaries from across the world.

While you expect some stars to be part of a bidding war among teams, every once in a while an unexpected name does the same. For example, not many experts would have predicted Varun Chakaravarthy to be bought for ₹8.4 crore at the 2019 IPL auctions.

This list will take a look at 12 such players who surprisingly set the IPL auction on fire.

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#12 Nathu Singh (2016)

Speedster Nathu Singh became an overnight sensation in 2016

A successful Ranji stint helped Nathu Singh fetch ₹3.2 crore at the auction in 2016. The amount was 32 times his base price of ₹10 lakh. The Rajasthan pacer was picked by Mumbai Indians. Singh, a factory worker’s son, made headlines for his huge pay, being pretty unknown to the cricket fans across the world.

The pacer burst on the scene, picking 7 for 87 on his Ranji Trophy debut against Delhi during the 2015-16 season. He certainly impressed with his pace, yet such big investment in a relatively new and inexperienced fast bowler was astonishing.

The pacer, however, did not get an opportunity to showcase his talent due to a shoulder injury. He did pick up a 6 wicket haul in a Duleep Trophy game with the pink ball later in the year, but his value depreciated to ₹80 Lakh in 2017. Things went more downhill as the player went unsold in the 2018 auction.

However, Delhi Capitals bought him for ₹20 lakh at the auction in 2019. But, it wasn't anything as compared to the bidding war for him in 2016.

#11 Mujeeb Zadran (IPL 2018 auction)

T10 League at Sharjah Cricket Stadium - Day One

Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Zadran was the first male to play international cricket who was born in the 21st century. The 16-year-old had played an instrumental role in Afghanistan's maiden U-19 Asia cup victory in 2017, picking up 20 wickets in the tournament including a 5 for 13 which dismantled Pakistan in the final. The mystery spinner had also played a big role in Afghanistan’s thrashing of New Zealand in the 2018 U-19 world cup picking up 4 wickets for 14 runs.

He started with 4 wickets in his debut match for Afghanistan against Ireland.

Zadran's efforts made the perfect build up for him to the auction, where the Kings XI Punjab fetched him for ₹4 crore. At 17 years and 11 days, the leg spinner also went to become the youngest player to play in the IPL.

He had a great debut IPL picking up 14 wickets in 11 matches, at an economy of 6.99.

#10 Kane Richardson (IPL 2013 auction)

Australia's Kane Richardson in action; SA v TAS - JLT One Day Cup

The Australian medium pacer, Kane Richardson, was the third most expensive buy in the 2013 edition of the tournament. Pune Warriors India bought Richardson at a lofty price of ₹4.5 crore. The amount was huge, but it feels even bigger when you consider that Richardson had only featured in 6 First-Class games at the time.

However, the medium-pacer could not leave much of a mark on the tournament. He played 3 matches in the season, picking up 2 wickets at 50.50. He has played for Rajasthan Royals in the later editions, finding moderate success.

In 2018, Richardson opted out of the auction to improve his chances for a potential Test spot. The following year, he reentered the auction-pool at a base-price of ₹1 crore, but couldn't attract any buyers, going unsold.

#9 Murugan Ashwin (IPL 2016 auction)

Murugan Ashwin (Image credit: IPLT20)

While India’s prime off-spinner, R. Ashwin is a household name for cricket fans. It was another Ashwin who made headlines when the 2016 auction unfolded. Murugan Ashwin was picked up for ₹4.5 crore by the Rising Pune Supergiants; the price was 45 times his base price of ₹10 lakh.

It’s intriguing to note that Ashwin had only played 3 first-class games and 2 list-A matches at the time, picking 1 and 3 wickets respectively. However, a great Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy where he took 10 wickets in 6 matches at an economy of 5.52 could have helped his cause.

Yet, it was always going to be difficult for Ashwin to live up to that sort of hype. Since then, hings have gone downhill for the spinner, at least as far as his IPL salary is concerned, going for ₹20 lakh to Kings XI Punjab in 2019.

#8 Glenn Maxwell (IPL 2013 auction)

Glen Maxwell

Glen Maxwell has been playing a lot of international Cricket since 2013, having gained the reputation of being one of the most destructive batsman in the world. But, before the auction in 2013, Maxwell had 197 runs in 9 ODIs at an average of 28.14 and 47 runs at 15.66 in 9 T20s. So, Mumbai Indians buying him for ₹5.4 crore was surprising to say the least.

He had a quiet season with Mumbai, who let him go, and he ended up next in the Kings XI Punjab camp. It was while representing Kings XI Punjab, Maxwell set the tournament alive in 2015, when he popularly started to be called the ‘Big Show’.

However, he has been inconsistent since that year, and his IPL career specifically hasn’t really lived up to the hype. Still, Maxwell’s strike rate of 164 makes him one of the most destructive batsmen in the league.

Delhi Daredevils bagged him for a huge sum of ₹9 crore in 2018, which for many was a surprise in itself. He under-performed again, and the Delhi franchise released the player later that year.

#7 Christopher Morris (IPL 2013 auction)

Chris Morris during England v South Africa: Semi Final - ICC Champions Trophy

“I have never in my life seen this much money,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted all-rounder Chris Morris. Starting with a low base-price, Morris sky-rocketed to earn 31 times more money than his base-price; he earned ₹4.2 crore approximately, selling to the Chennai Super Kings. He was a cricketer purely picked on potential.

He did find moderate success picking 15 wickets in 14 games for CSK, playing a vital role in taking CSK to the final in 2013. But, things became even brighter 3 years later, when the Delhi franchise picked him up at the 2016 auction for a lofty ₹7 crore.

Since then, he has become one of the most successful all-round players in the league scoring at a strike rate of 166.67 and has a bowling economy of 7.75.

#6 Shivam Dubey (IPL 2019 auction)

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The uncapped players certainly stole the show at the IPL auction in 2019. Bidding wars for some unknown or lesser-known cricketers blew everyone away. One such bidding war happened for Mumbai’s all-rounder Shivam Dubey. RCB and MI got into an intense bidding war for Dube, with the former finally buying him for a smashing ₹5 crore.

Shivam Dubey, an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-handed, had set the buzz correctly by hitting Baroda's left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh for five sixes of five balls at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He had certainly gained a reputation, surprisingly having done the same to leg-spinner Pravin Tambe. He had also been hailed previously by Sunil Gavaskar for his clean and powerful hitting abilities.

Still, a sum of ₹5 crore was highly unpredictable and certainly exceptional, making him one of the truly most surprising big buys ever.

#5 Saurabh Tiwary (IPL 2011 auction)

Saurabh Tiwary batting for Mumbai Indians v South Australian Redbacks - 2010 CL T20

The young Jharkhand batsman, Saurabh Tiwary, entered the 2011 auction having been the 'U-23 player of the season' in the previous edition, scoring 419 runs for the Mumbai Indians in 16 matches. So, he was considered a strong prospect to get a good price when his name came up at the 2011 auction.

Yet, what happened in the next few minutes was unbelievable, but surreal for everyone. Royal Challengers Bangalore went all out for him buying him at a massive ₹8.5 crore. The huge pay made him the 7th most expensive player of that edition of the tournament. However, the left-handed batsman has failed to live up to the expectations over the years.

Things have kept going downhill for him since due to some inconsistent performances. Tiwary was bought by the Mumbai Indians for ₹80 Lakh in the auction in 2018.

Fate wasn’t on the former Indian batsman’s side, as he went unsold during the auction in 2019.

#4 Pawan Negi (IPL 2016 auction)

Pawan Negi

One of the most surprising purchases during the auction in 2016 had been made by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), when the franchise grabbed Pawan Negi for a whopping ₹8.5 crore. The unbelievably huge amount made him the most expensive uncapped buy, and the second costliest buy overall.

The all-rounder had shot to fame during his stint with the CSK, where he had been a wonderful asset for MS Dhoni. Yet, it was astounding considering Chennai had bought him for ₹10 lakh at the auction in 2014.

He only played 8 matches for DD in the season, scoring 57 runs. He failed with the ball as well, picking up a solitary wicket in the tournament. As a result, he was released by the franchise later that year.

The all-rounder went to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018. The price this time was ₹1 crore.

#3 Jaydev Unadkat (IPL 2018 auction)

Jaydev Unadkat

This list would be incomplete without a mention of Jaydev Unadkat. The left-arm-medium-pacer had made his debut for India 7 years before he came up in the auction on 28th January, 2018. He had played one test, 7 ODIs and 4 T20Is in all these years failing to find great success at the international level.

Although, in the 2017 edition of the IPL, he finished second on the wicket takers’ list with 24 scalps in 12 games that also included a hat-trick, yet nobody could have predicted ₹11.5 crore for Unadkat. Yet, that was the amount Rajasthan Royals paid for the left-arm medium pacer.

However, he failed to live up to his price-tag, picking only 11 wickets in 15 matches in the 2018 edition of the league. As a result, Unadkat had to accept a pay-cut at the 2019 auction, selling to the Rajasthan Royals again for ₹8.4 crore only.

#2 Tymal Mills (IPL 2017 auction)

Tymal Mills; Sussex Sharks v Middlesex - Vitality Blast

Royal Challengers Bangalore were in search for a replacement for the injured Mitchell Starc and also a solution to their bowling woes. Known for being ruthless bidders, they went fiercely after the English international Tymal Mills buying him for a lofty ₹12 crore. This made him the second most expensive overseas player ever in the league, only behind Ben Stokes (₹14.5 crore).

However, things didn’t really go according to plan for the franchise, as Mills failed to live up to the team's expectations. He could only fetch 5 wickets in 5 outings for RCB at an economy of 8.57. Hence, the franchise did not retain him for the following edition of the tournament.

In 2019, Tymal Mills had set a base-price of ₹75 lakh for himself; however, the former IPL million-dollar baby couldn’t attract any buyers for the second consecutive time, having been unsold at ₹1 crore in 2018.

#1 Varun Chakravarthy (IPL 2019 auction)

Varun Chakravarthy

Here’s a small story: A boy played Cricket in school, but he couldn’t find any success. So, he gave up playing Cricket to concentrate on his studies. Then, years later, while working for a firm when the boy had turned 25-years-old, he decided that he had had enough. He returned to Cricket after 6 years. He worked hard, and earned opportunities.

He played in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2018 and spun his team to the title. Then, he backed it up with 22 wickets in the Vijay Hazare trophy. As a result, he received deserving attention, also going on to make his first-class debut. Months later, when his name came up in the auction in 2019, few could have predicted ₹8.4 crore for the guy.

This is the story of Tamil Nadu’s mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who has been bought by the Kings XI Punjab in 2019. A fascinating story indeed.

The mystery spinner who has been in the spotlight for having seven different variations will certainly go down as some of the biggest surprise players to set the IPL auction ablaze.