IPL Auction 2018: 5 Indian players who could be bargain buys

While the Colin Munros and the Ben Stokes' promise to send the IPL cash-registers into a tizzy, the financial experts of all franchises will be burning the midnight oil in a bid to chalk out the best combination for their respective sides, taking into account the base price of each player, big or small.

In such a scenario, a low base price can help a performing player earn a spot in one of the teams, offering them the chance of plying their trade against the best, while not giving the side's bank accounts a big hit.

Here are five Indian players who can be bargain buys for the franchises:

Deepak Chahar (Rs. 20 Lakh)

In 2008, as a 16-year-old, Deepak Chahar was rejected by Greg Chappell, the then director of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. 10 years later, Chahar, playing for Rajasthan, is being touted as one of the uncapped players to look forward to in the IPL auctions.

Just recently, he ran through the Bengal line-up with a 5-15 in the zonal T20 tournament, twice sitting on a hat-trick.

After a rollicking start to first-class cricket, when he took 8-10 on debut, Chahar was handed a youth contract with the Rajasthan Royals in 2011 and stayed with them until 2015, despite not playing a single game.

In 2016, he was picked up by the Rising Pune Supergiant but didn't create much of an impact over the next two years, scalping only one wicket across five games. Back in the auctions, and in the middle of red-hot form, Chahar could be a handy pick.

Virat Singh (Rs. 20 Lakh)

Virat Singh has been in fine nick recently and scored a 49-ball 81 against Mumbai

A flamboyant left-handed batsman, 20-year-old Virat Singh established his name as a future prospect whilst still in his teens, making his U-19 debut for Jharkhand at the tender age of 14.

He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2014, and has, since then, played 21 first-class games, graduating to the U-19s by the following year.

The Jharkhand-born batsman, whose idol is Kumar Sangakkara, had, in an interview a few years back, said that he would love to play for the Chennai Super Kings under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, who he respects highly.

He has been in fine nick recently and scored a 49-ball 81 against Mumbai in the Super League of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Snubbed at the auctions last year, Virat, the namesake of contemporary India's biggest sporting idol, will be itching to carve a name for himself as well.

Shubman Gill (Rs. 20 Lakh)

Gill is the vice-captain of the Indian U-19 side

Hailing from the farmlands of Punjab, Shubman Gill started playing the game as a three-year-old, with the idea of representing his country drilled early into his brain.

The rise has been meteoric, and by the age of 18, he has already made his first-class and List-A debuts, while also vice-captaining the Indian U-19 side.

He was the leading run-scorer in England, and earned the praise of interim U-19 coach WV Raman, who conceded that "once he gets hundreds, he gets big hundreds".

A free-flowing batsman who is not afraid to play his strokes, Gill could fit into the top-order order of most teams who are looking for a youngster who can give them quick runs, and wouldn't cost a bomb.

Mayank Agarwal (Rs. 20 Lakh)

Agarwal started his IPL career with RCB

2017 was a stellar year for Mayank Agarwal, and the change came during the Karnataka Premier League, when, after a slow start, he ended with 265 runs from seven games, the highest tally across all teams.

Inside a month during the Ranji Trophy last year, Agarwal racked up over 1000 runs, with scores of 304*, 176, 23, 90, 133*, 173 and 104* helping him finish as the highest run-getter in the tournament.

J Arunkumar has been a fan of his appetite for big runs, and once said that if he can bat till the 16th over in a T20 game, he is sure to get a hundred.

Agarwal is not new to the IPL, having featured in the tournament since 2011. Last year, he was with the Pune Supergiant, although he did not get a long rope owing to his indifferent form.

On the back of a successful Ranji season, Mayank can be expected to be a smart buy in the auctions.

Ambati Rayudu (Rs. 50 Lakh)

Rayudu is one of the IPL's most capped Indian players

A veteran of the IPL, this will be the first time since 2010 that Ambati Rayudu is without a team, having showcased his versatile batting skills for Mumbai Indians ever since he got amnesty from the BCCI. At Mumbai, he won the title thrice and has played more than a hundred games, a good chunk of them as a wicket-keeper batsman.

His batting is enterprising when the runs are needed, and dependable when the situation requires sanity. His numerous vital knocks for Mumbai helped him get a spot in the Indian team, but a choc-a-bloc middle-order kept him out.

At 32, chances of getting a place back in the Indian team are getting increasingly difficult, but he is still a handy option in the IPL, mainly because of the immense experience he carries with him and the ability to perform under pressure when needed the most. And, at Rs. 50 lakh, he offers all of that at a reasonable rate.