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The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League Auction kick-started in Jaipur with Hugh Edmeades replacing Richard Madley with the gavel. As expected, the teams had done their homework according to their requirements as the expected names went for huge bucks. In the end, sixty players sold under the hammer out of which twenty were overseas players for a mammoth 106.80 Crores.
The talent scouts from the eight franchises have done well to unearth young talents before the beginning of the auction. An intense bidding war erupted between the franchises who were splashing the money to acquire the uncapped Indians at any cost. Let‘s look at the top five players who went for a huge price in this year‘s auction.
#1 Varun Chakaravarthy - Kings XI Punjab - 8.4 Crores
This Tamil Nadu youngster became the highest-priced player of the 2019 auction recording 42 times his base price amount to end with 8.4 crores in his kitty. He attracted bids from Chennai Super Kings, Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and the Royals before Punjab swopping him for a record sum.
Varun, who abandoned the game after being rejected in age group cricket went on to concentrate on his studies. He played weekend cricket during his college days with a tennis ball and reverted to spin after sustaining a knee injury.
He honed his skills in the TNCA league to emerge on top with his off-break, the carrom ball, and the top-spinner. Besides, he can bowl the leg-break, googly, flipper and the slider. He had net sessions with CSK and KKR before the start of the 2018 IPL season and learned a lot in the company of Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, and Piyush Chawla in Kolkata.
In the 2018 TNPL season, he impressed in the slog overs scoring 36 runs and remained unbeaten in three of his four innings at a strike rate of 109. He claimed nine wickets at an economy of 4.7 runs per over for the Siechem Madurai Panthers. What’s more notable was the 125 dot balls he had managed from his 40 overs with the Panthers.
In the VAP Trophy 2018-2019, he claimed ten wickets at an economy of 3.65 from his seven matches playing for Vijay CC. Called up to represent Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy; he returned with 22 wickets at an economy rate of 4.23. Recording 308 dot-balls from his 86.4 overs he impressed the scouts with his ability to exert pressure on the batsman.
He would play a key role for the Kings Eleven team and would look forward to don the Indian colors in the near future.
Base Price: 20 Lakhs
Purchase Price: 8.4 Crores (42 times his base price amount)
Interested Franchises: Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals.
#2 Shivam Dube - Royal Challengers Bangalore - 5 Crores
Mumbaikar Shivam Dube set the platform for an intense bidding war after hoisting Swapnil Singh for five sixes from five balls in a Ranji Trophy game against Baroda. Tall and slender Dube hit leg-spinner Pravin Tambe for five sixes from five balls in a Mumbai T20 match early this year.
He has scored 189 runs at a strike rate of 147.65 and also managed and captured ten wickets at an economy of 9.28 with his right arm medium pace bowling in T20 matches.
He captured the attention of Mumbai selector’s after claiming four wickets for 65 runs against Fort Vijay Cricket Club, before signing off with an unbeaten 61 to secure the title for DY Patil Sports Academy in the Young Comrades tournament in 2017.
Earlier this year, he scored a quick-fire 34 and picked up three wickets for seven runs to claim the title for BPCL In the final of the DY Patil T20 tournament. His consistent performance in T20 matches and List A matches for Mumbai earned him a Ranji debut in December 2017 against Karnataka in Nagpur last year.
He has enjoyed a terrific start in the Ranji season this year accumulating 489 runs at an average of 69.85 to be the second leading run scorer for Mumbai behind Siddhesh Lad. Dube claimed 17 wickets at a strike rate of 54.5 to become a vital member of the Mumbai team.
Looking to earn a spot, Dube, who bore comparisons with Yuvraj Singh may represent the missing link to the RCB line-up, who have been struggling to find a consistent Indian performer in the middle order to back-up the likes of Kohli and De Villiers.
Base Price: 20 Lakhs
Purchase Price: 5 Crores (25 times his base price amount)
Interested Franchises: Mumbai Indians, Kings Eleven Punjab, and Delhi Capitals.
#3 Prabhsimran Singh - Kings XI Punjab - 4.8 Crores
Seventeen-year-old wicketkeeper from Patiala led to an intense bidding war between Punjab, Mumbai, and Bangalore before the Kings Eleven franchise secured his services for a humongous 4.8 crores commending an amount which was 24 times his base price.
He hogged the limelight after smashing 298 off 301 balls which included 29 boundaries and 13 sixes in the under 23 Inter-district cricket tournament in Punjab this year making a statement after he got left out from the Indian under-19 team‘s tour to Sri Lanka.
A hard-hitting batsman who idolizes Sehwag and Gilchrist received lavish praise during the auction from former National selector Kiran More, who hailed him as a right-handed Rishabh Pant.
He leads Punjab under 19 squad and has represented the Indian under 19 team and also marshaled them in the latter half of the under 19 Asia Cup this year. He scored 384 runs at a strike rate of 124.67 with 21 towering sixes to average 96 from his six innings for Punjab in the under 19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy this year.
Prabhsimran Singh ended with 174 runs 138 balls in his stint with the Indian under 19 team during the Asia Cup with a strike rate of 101.92. In the Finals, he blasted 65 runs from 37 balls at a strike rate of 175.67 to steer India to victory.
Base Price: 20 Lakhs
Purchase Price: 4.8 Crores (24 times his base price amount)
Interested Franchises: Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
#4 Akshdeep Nath - Royal Challengers Bangalore - 3.6 Crores
Twenty-five-year-old Akshdeep had an exceptional Ranji season last year finishing with 387 runs from his nine innings at an average of 43 which included a century and three half-centuries for Uttar Pradesh. A technically sound batsman he has represented the Gujarat Lions and Kings XI Punjab franchises in previous editions of the IPL with limited opportunities to display his talents.
With a wealth of domestic experience under his belt playing for Uttar Pradesh, he has garnered over 1300 runs in First-class and List A matches, at a healthy average of around 45. He was the vice-captain of the under 19 Indian cricket team which won the World Cup in Australia in 2012.
He bowls right arm medium fast and has claimed 31 wickets so far in all domestic matches since his debut. He has been in good form this year topping the run charts for his State team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 285 runs at an average of 57. He scored 249 runs at an average of 49.80 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a strike rate of 143.93 to finish second behind Suresh Raina.
Base Price: 20 Lakhs
Purchase Price: 3.6 Crores (18 times his base price amount)
Interested Franchise: Chennai Super Kings.
#5 Mohit Sharma - Chennai Super Kings - 5 Crores
Mohit Sharma is all set to don the Yellow jersey making a return to the CSK den after a three-year stint with Punjab. He enjoyed a successful stint with CSK picking up 57 wickets during the three seasons which clinched him a place in the Indian cricket team.
Sharma claimed 31 International scalps from his 26 appearances for Team India along with six wickets in T20 Internationals from eight appearances. Though he fell off the radar with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Indian line-up, he can still bowl a variety of slower deliveries that can outfox the batsman.
In his three seasons with Kings XI, Mohit claimed 33 wickets at an economy rate of 9.40. His most outstanding IPL season came in 2014 when he claimed the purple cap with 23 wickets. His experience and variation in pace would represent a welcome addition to the CSK camp who once again went on expected lines in the auction to secure the services of their earlier squad members.
Base Price: 50 Lakhs
Purchase Price: 5 Crores (10 times his base price amount)
Interested Franchises: Mumbai Indians, Kings Eleven Punjab, and Delhi Capitals.
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