12 unexpected players who set the IPL auction on fire

#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.