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109 players went under the hammer on day one of the much-awaited IPL 2018 Auction in Bengaluru on Saturday. 78 players were bought by the eight franchises, while 31 remained unsold.
A total of 578 Indian and overseas players are in the fray for the 11th edition of the T20 tournament to be held from 7 April to 27 May.
As expected, there were a lot of surprises throughout the day as some of the well-established names could not find any takers and some lesser-known players got away with flashy price tags.
The remaining players will be auctioned through an "accelerated process" on Day 2.
Now, let's have a look at the hits and misses from the first day of IPL 2018 Auctions.
Hit: Harbhajan Singh
The out of favour Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who represented three-time champions Mumbai Indians in all the 10 seasons so far, will play for Chennai Super Kings in the 11th edition of IPL.
The 37-year-old, who has claimed 127 wickets in his 136 IPL games, was an absolute steal at his base price of INR 2 crore.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni would expect Harbhajan to fill the void created in CSK's line-up after Ravichandran Ashwin's departure to Kings XI Punjab.
Miss: Joe Root
Joe Root went under the hammer for the first time in IPL auctions, since making his international debut in 2012, but could not find any takers at a base price of INR 2 crore.
The 27-year-old, who was amongst the 16 marquee players, has never played in an overseas Twenty20 league and his experience in the shortest format of the game is restricted to England and Yorkshire.
To keep up with the constantly evolving world of T20 cricket, the England Test skipper hoped to make his IPL debut this year as has only played five Natwest Blast matches since 2012.
The number 9 batsman on ICC T20I Rankings, Root has amassed 1325 from 57 T20 matches at a strike rate of 125.59.
Hit: Brendon McCullum
Chennai Super Kings chose Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo over Brendon McCullum as Royal Challengers Bangalore reserved the services of the former New Zealand skipper for a nominal price of INR 3.6 crore.
McCullum, who is the highest run-scorer in T20Is with 2140 runs, has hit 426 sixes in T20 cricket, the third most by any player.
With an experience of 103 IPL matches under his belt, the 36-year-old will add a new dimension to the already-glittering RCB squad.
Miss: Chris Gayle
It was being assumed that another fat paycheck was awaiting Chris Gayle at the IPL 2018 Auction but, in a surprising turn of events, the biggest star of the league's first decade remained unsold at his base price of INR 2 crore.
The swashbuckling West Indies batsman, who scored 3,420 runs from 91 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, was not picked by his IPL franchise of last 7 years.
Gayle made his IPL debut with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008 but remained unsold in 2011, before he was roped in by RCB to replace Dirk Nannes.
With 265 maximums to his name, the 38-year-old holds the record of hitting the most number of sixes in IPL history.
Overall, in 101 IPL matches, Gayle has scored 3,626 runs, including five tons, the most by any batsman.
Hit: Gautam Gambhir
It turned out to be a homecoming for Gautam Gambhir, who was not retained by Kolkata Knight Riders, as he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a modest INR 2.8 crore.
The 36-year-old played for DD in the first three years before moving to KKR in 2011, leading them to two titles in his seven-year stay.
The KKR management has revealed that Gambhir was in their scheme of things but the left-handed batsman wanted to explore new avenues and asked the franchise not to retain or bid for him.
Miss: Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard got back to where he belongs as Mumbai Indians used their Right to Match card on the West Indies all-rounder instead of Jos Buttler.
The 30-year-old, who has claimed 56 wickets and scored 1599 runs in 123 IPL games, costed INR 5.4 crore to MI, which is quite high considering his recent form.
Delhi Daredevils initially bought Pollard, who has become the first cricketer ever to play 400 T20 matches, but, Mumbai owners were not ready to part ways with the overrated all-rounder.
Hit: Ajinkya Rahane
Rajasthan Royals did not retain Ajinkya Rahane initially but they used the Right to Match card to get their old warhorse for INR 4 crore in the IPL auctions.
Rahane, who played for Rising Pune Supergiant in Season 10, has been one of the key players for RR over the years and entered the auctions as one of the 16 marquee players with a base price of INR 2 crore.
"Our favourite blue-blooded player is Ajinkya. So we retained him with an RTM. Stokes would have been equal to anyone we'd have had, had we retained any other player. In a start-up mode, we're trying to invest up front and in the first half of the entire auction process, most of the star players seem to be there. Therefore we're investing. There's no change in strategy. Through the afternoon and tomorrow we'll come out with a few more surprises to see that this team is even more resilient to return to the IPL", Ranjit Barthakur, Rajasthan Royals Chairman and CEO said.
Miss: Ishan Kishan
In a surprising move, Mumbai Indians engaged in a fierce bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings for Ishan Kishan and finally bought him for a hefty price of INR 6.2 crore.
The Jharkhand wicket-keeper batsman is often compared with MS Dhoni but his credentials do not justify his enormous price tag.
The 19-year-old, whose base price was only INR 40 lakh, played for Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017, scoring 319 runs at an average of 21.
Hit: Colin Munro
When the number one T20I batsman is waiting to be bought, one expects a big battle but, it turned out to be a cakewalk for Delhi Daredevils as they got Colin Munro for a throwaway price of INR 1.9 crore.
The Kiwi all-rounder, who is the only player to hit three T20Is tons, could not impress in his first IPL stint when he played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016.
However, riding on his recent exploits, where he scored a hundred, two fifties and an unbeaten 49 in his last five T20Is, the 30-year-old with unorthodox hitting abilities, was always likely to be picked up.
Miss: Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals shelled out a whopping INR 8 crore for Sanju Samson, making him the costliest wicket-keeper batsman in the ongoing auctions.
At an auction where Parthiv Patel went unsold and Quinton de Kock got an unexpectedly low price of INR 2.80 crore, it was quite shocking to see Samson's base price getting multiplied by 8.
The Kerala player, who went out for Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2017, was picked by RR for just Rs 10 lakh in 2013.
"The money is definitely huge and I would want to spend it wisely. But for me, it is more important to keep performing", Samson said.
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