The Indian Premier League fever kicked off with a lot of frenzy and gusto as the auctions saw plenty of money being splurged all over the place. There were many players who received a big price tag and there were plenty more who did not attract any bids and remained in the bag.
The Indian boys were big winners on the day and the franchises showed a lot of confidence in the uncapped Indian players and many players were the recipients of big bids. All the franchises were very sceptical when it came down to releasing money for many overseas players as they were slightly wary about their availability throughout the league.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017 Auction Live Updates; Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills are the costliest buys
Here in this list we take a look at 5 Indian players with a low base price but were bought for hefty prices.
#5 Mohammad Siraj
A tearaway quick from Hyderabad, Siraj has been one of the finds this season with his deceptive pace and a very nasty bouncer. He was the third highest wicket-taker in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy where he picked up 41 wickets at an average of 18.92.
In the inter-zonal tournament, he was impressive with the ball where his economy was an impressive economy rate of 6.57. His promise did not go unnoticed as he was one of the hot properties in the auction.
He came in the with the base price of 20 Lakhs and was eventually snapped up by his home franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad for 2.6 Crore. This has to be one of the stories this year for Siraz, who is the son of an auto-rickshaw driver.
#4 Karn Sharma
The feisty leg-spinner has had a rather topsy turvy last year. He was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad but put in some notable performances in both the Ranji and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and is back with a new team in Mumbai Indians.
He entered the auctions with a base price of 30 Lakhs and saw an intense fight between several teams. Mumbai Indians got hold of him for 3.2 Crore and he would form a potent combination with Harbhajan Singh.
He is no bunny with the bat either and is a very handy fielder and thus is one complete package for any team. It could well be a bargain but for Mumbai Indians.
Also, he is quite an experienced player as he has been around since 2007 and Mumbai will be happy with this buying.
#3 Varun Aaron
One of the quickest bowlers to emerge from India, Varun Aaron might have slipped down the pecking order as far as the Indian team is concerned, but then he is still a hot property as far as the IPL is concerned.
He did not have a very good season last year with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and thus was released by the team. However, he attracted plenty of bids this year too with Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Gujarat Lions going full throttle after him.
Aaron had a base price of 30 Lakhs but was eventually snapped up Kings XI Punjab for 2.8 Crore.
#2 T Natarajan
The young left-arm seam bowler made everyone sit up and take notice of his prowess in the Tamil Nadu Premier League where he bowled six yorkers in a Super Over against Tuti Patriots, to choke his state captain Abhinav Mukund. He continued his stellar form into the Ranji Trophy and showed great promise with the red ball and he picked up 27 wickets in 9 matches.
People have compared his bowling style with Mustafizur Rahman and with his toe-crushing yorkers, he could be a real find for Punjab this season.
He came in with the base price of 10 Lakhs and was eventually sold for 3 Crore to Kings XI Punjab.
#1 Aniket Choudhary
The lanky Rajasthan pacer grabbed attention when he was included in the Indian team to prepare against Mitchell Starc for the upcoming series against Australia.
“It is a big opportunity for me to have been chosen by the Indian management to bowl to star Indian batsmen in the nets. Playing for India is every budding cricketer’s dream, but to have even earned this opportunity means a lot to me," Aniket told Sportskeeda.
Little did he know that he would one the biggest buys in the auctions this year too. Choudhary entered the bid with a base price of 10 lakhs and then the slogfest began. Royal Challengers Bangalore opened the bid and were soon joined by the Gujarat Lions. The price kept escalating as both franchises refused to budge, but eventually the seamer was lapped up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping 2 Crore.
A real fairytale for the young man.
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