5 overrated buys on Day 1 of IPL 2022 Auction

The first day of the IPL 2022 Auction saw 74 players getting sold, with the 10 franchises dishing out a total of ₹388.10 crore.

There were several big buys, with the highest being Ishan Kishan, who returned to Mumbai Indians (MI) for a whopping ₹15.25 crore.

A total of 10 players went for ₹10 crore or more, including Avesh Khan, who became the most expensive uncapped player in IPL history. The pacer, who finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021, was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for ₹10 crore.

Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings for ₹14 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹12.25 crore) were some of the other mega deals on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 Auction.

There were some great bargains as well, such as David Warner to Delhi Capitals (DC) for ₹6.25 crore, Quinton de Kock to LSG for ₹6.75 crore and Jason Roy to Gujarat Titans (GT) for ₹2 crore.

DC made another great bargain buy by snapping up Mustafizur Rahman for ₹2 crore. The Bangladeshi pacer, who seriously impressed in IPL 2021 for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), is a gun T20 bowler in general.

However, some buys raised eyebrows due to the astronomical sums involved as well as the players those big bucks were paid for.

On that note, here are five overrated purchases on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 Auction:

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#1 Nicholas Pooran

West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran was bought for a whopping ₹10.75 crore by SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the IPL 2022 Auction, pipping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a bidding war.

The 26-year-old is a highly skilled batter, with the ability to clear the ropes at will on his day, especially against spinners.

However, the southpaw has never really found the consistency to be worth the kind of money SRH spent to rope him in. Pooran will be under real pressure to deliver in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

He has a strike rate of 154.98 in the IPL, but he managed only 85 runs from 12 matches last season. He has also not been in great form for his country of late.

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#2 Prasidh Krishna

25-year-old pacer Prasidh Krishna surprisingly sparked a huge bidding war at the IPL 2022 Auction and ended up at Rajasthan Royals for ₹10 crore.

While the speedster is touted as a great talent and recently won the Player of the Series award in the India-West Indies ODI series, he hasn't always been great in the IPL.

He has often struggled with his lines and lengths and, as a result, has been expensive, as is evident from his IPL economy rate of 9.26. Krishna is not a prolific wicket-taker either, averaging 38.40 with the ball.

While he has plenty of time and scope to improve, the pacer will need to majorly up his game to meet his high valuation.

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#3 Rahul Tewatia

All-rounder Rahul Tewatia burst onto the scene with his 30-run over that won the Rajasthan Royals a high-scoring match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2020.

He was expected to be a sought-after player at the IPL 2022 Auction, with new IPL franchise Gujarat Titans roping him in for ₹9 crore, pipping Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the process.

However, Tewatia hasn't consistently delivered like one would expect from a player that franchises are willing to pay that much money for.

He has not made any significant contributions since the match against PBKS. Last season, he struck at 105.44 with the bat, while taking eight wickets in 12 matches.

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#4 Shivam Mavi

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went big for pacer Shivam Mavi, sheling out ₹7.25 crore to re-sign him.

While he is a highly-rated pacer, Mavi is yet to prove that he is worth the kind of money KKR paid for him at the IPL 2022 Auction.

KKR were left with just ₹12.65 crore at the end of Day 1 of the auction, having filled just nine slots, including their four retentions.

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#5 Ambati Rayudu

CSK went after most of the players from their IPL-winning squad last year, and Ambati Rayudu was no exception. The defending champions ended up getting him for ₹6.75 crore.

It wasn't a huge amount, but given that someone like Jonny Bairstow went for the same amount, it does feel like CSK paid more than they should have for Rayudu.

It also meant they could not win bids for the likes of Rahul Tripathi and Shahrukh Khan, who would have given them more value in the long term.