IPL Auction 2019: 6 players who fetched much more money than expected

The IPL auction 2019 turned out to be one cracker of an event. The franchise owners held nothing back and went for broke when the players of their choice went under the hammer. Many franchises were ready to take the risk of spending several crores on uncapped players who are still in the early stages of their careers.

Hence, some relatively unknown players became the kings of the auction this time around. It is a huge boost for these cricketers to get recognized in a league like the IPL.

In this article, we will take a look at 6 players who surprisingly attracted huge bids when they were not expected to do so.

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#6 Nicholas Pooran (₹4.2 crore)

Nicholas Pooran

The Trinidadian wicket-keeper was a big surprise at the IPL auction 2019 being sold to the Kings XI Punjab for a whopping ₹4.2 crore. Pooran is new to international cricket and does not have much experience although he has played a fair bit of cricket at the CPL back in the Caribbean.

Pooran was previously picked by the Mumbai Indians in 2017 but did not get a game with them. The IPL auction never fails to bring the dark horses into the limelight and Pooran stole the show this time around.

Pooran will provide attacking flair to the KXIP middle-order and an additional option behind the wickets with his tidy glove-work.

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#5 Prabhsimran Singh (₹4.8 crore)

Prabhsimran Singh

The 17-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Punjab has not been a regular figure in India's domestic circuit till now and is barely known by cricket experts. Prabhsimran came into the limelight after his fiery 298 against Amritsar in an Under-23 tournament.

Prabhsimran attracted bids from several teams including the 3-time champions Mumbai Indians before he was eventually sold to Punjab. It was a good move by the KXIP management to bag Prabhsimran as they lacked a frontline keeper last season and had to give the wicket-keeping duties to KL Rahul.

#4 Shivam Dubey (₹5 crore)

Shivam Dubey

The Mumbai all-rounder was supposed to be the hottest property from the domestic players available at the auction. The 24-year-old did not disappoint as he went to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹5 crore.

In the Ranji Trophy, Dubey plays for Mumbai and is in red-hot form at the moment hitting sixes at will. His medium-pace bowling is another useful facet of his game which proves handy for his domestic team.

Unseemingly, Dubey managed to fetch a huge amount that made him one of the biggest highlights of the IPL Auction 2019. Although uncapped players are not expected to be among the top 5 players to get the highest bid, Dubey managed to pave his way into the 5-crore category and will be donning the red and black next season.

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#3 Colin Ingram (₹6.4 crore)

Colin Ingram

Among all the surprising overseas buys at the auction, the most striking one was Colin Ingram. The 33-year-old South African was drafted into the Delhi Capitals squad for an astonishing ₹6.4 crore. Ingram has been out of international cricket for more than 5 years and has last played the IPL in 2011 for the same franchise.

Although an active participant in the BBL and other similar T20 leagues across the world, it is a surprise that someone who is making a comeback in the IPL after eight years to fetch as much as Ingram did.

#2 Jaydev Unadkat (₹8.4 crore)

Jaydev Unadkat was once again the star of the IPL auction bagging ₹8.4 crore from his old franchise Rajasthan Royals. Unadkat who fetched ₹11.5 crore from the same team last season faltered badly and was released. After the beating that he took last season, Unadkat was not expected to be the star of this auction.

Having lost his place from India's T20 side and considering his last season's performances, Unadkat was not expected to be picked at such a high amount. Although Rajasthan targeted Jaydev as a bargain buy, his price went well above the expectations which proved a little costly for the men in royal blue.

Unadkat would hope he finally clicks for the RR this season and the Royals would reap huge dividends for showing patience in him.

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#1 Varun Chakravarthy (₹8.4 crore)

Varun Chakravarthy

The mystery leg-spinner from Tamil Nadu is the latest sensation in the Indian Premier League bagging a whopping ₹8.4 crore from the Kings XI Punjab, a huge amount considering he is an uncapped player.

Varun earned recognition following his performances for Madurai Panthers at the Tamil Nadu Premier League this year. He was considered very hard to decipher in the league.

The Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings were the other teams to show interest in Chakravathy before he was eventually sold to Punjab. The Kings XI would hope their huge investment pays off in the long run.