IPL 2020 player auction: 5 biggest surprises

Which team lands which player? Who will be the top draws? Which team will be breaking the bank to get their desired players?

All these questions were answered as the drama unfolded today at the IPL 2020 player auction.

Naturally, the most active franchises were the ones who had earlier let go of players in order to bring in new faces. KXIP, RR, and KKR bought most of the players in today's auction while at the other end of the spectrum were teams like CSK, MI, and SRH, who already have their core team put in order and looked content with just filling in a few gaps.

There have been quite a few surprises at the auction table over the years and this trend continued this year as well. Here are the five biggest surprises of IPL 2020 player auction:

#1. Chris Lynn (Australia) - Rs 2 Crores

MI bagged the swashbuckling Aussie this year

One of the biggest surprises before the player auction was the release of Australia’s hard-hitting batsman Chris Lynn by KKR. Fans expected that the main strategy behind the move was to buy him back at the auction for a much lesser price. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen today.

Even though he had an average season in 2019, most of us would have expected some stiff fight for him because of his reputation in this format. But surprisingly, there was only one team that was interested in recruiting him. Defending champions Mumbai Indians easily bought him for his base price.

As made evident by his tweet, the Aussie is looking forward to his time at his new franchise.

#2. Kesrick Williams (West Indies) - Unsold

Williams going unsold wasn't expected

The medium-pacer from the West Indies has been getting under the skin of the Indian captain Virat Kohli in the ongoing limited-overs series and has been a successful bowler so far for the touring side.

His clever change of pace makes him a very effective bowler in T20s and he was expected to invite some heavy bidding by the franchises but surprisingly, there wasn’t anyone who picked him.

A sad day in his (note)book for sure!

#3. Piyush Chawla (India) - Rs 6.75 Crores

The 30-year-old leggie drew big bucks at today's auction

The Indian leg spinner has been a legend in the IPL and was a regular in the KKR squad for a long time. However, he was released by the team this year and was up for grabs today.

Although he is at the fag end of his career, fans expected him to attract a few takers in this year's auction. Teams like Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab, who are short on quality spinners, were expected to buy him but in the end, it was the men in yellow who managed to grab him, that too for a whopping Rs 6.75 crores.

Chawla will most likely be playing second fiddle to Imran Tahir in the team and whether he becomes a regular feature in MS Dhoni’s team or not, remains to be seen.

#4. Chris Morris (South Africa) - Rs 10 Crores

Morris will be joining RCB this year

The South African all-rounder himself would have been left surprised at what happened at the auction. He was bought for a mind-boggling Rs 10 crores after having started at a base price of Rs 1.5 crores. It was the Royal Challengers Bangalore, known for their penchant for high-priced bidding, who got Morris for this money.

Even though he is a useful utility cricketer, the South African has often failed to deliver consistently in the past and to invest such a huge sum in this kind of a player raised quite a few eyebrows.

RCB’s Achilles heel in the IPL has been their bowling and it was expected that they would be aiming to recruit impact bowlers but ended up shelling out so much money on a player who has not quite performed to his potential.

Let's wait and watch if the Proteas’ all-rounder brings with him a good fortune for Virat Kohli's men.

#5. Varun Chakravarthy (India uncapped) - Rs 4 Crores

Chakravarthy will be pocketing a hefty sum of Rs. 4 crores this year

The mystery spinner was the talk of the town last year after he was lured in with a huge pay cheque by Kings XI Punjab (although an injury ruled him out for the most part of the tournament). In the only game he played, Varun went for 35 runs (including 25 in a single over). The Tamil Nadu spinner was expectedly released by the team management ahead of this year's auction.

He was bought by KKR today and will be pocketing Rs. 4 crores. It was surprising to see that much money spent on a player who hasn’t had much success in the domestic circuit as well.

Maybe his state captain Dinesh Karthik had a say in his selection for KKR.

There sure will be tremendous pressure on the young lad to do well if provided with an opportunity.