Most expensive player at each IPL Auction from 2008 to 2018

#8: 2015 - Yuvraj Singh (Delhi Daredevils) - INR 16 Crores

Yuvraj Singh

66 players (43 Indians and 23 Overseas) were sold at the 2015 IPL auction. Once again, Yuvraj Singh turned out to be the most expensive buy in an IPL Auction. This time Delhi Daredevils picked the left-hander for INR 16 crores.

Interestingly, the two most expensive buys of 2014 and 2015 were the same players as they switched teams. Yuvraj went from RCB to DD while Dinesh Karthik moved from DD into RCB.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Karthik for INR 10.5 crores this time around. Yuvraj scored 248 runs from 14 matches while Karthik was able to score only 141 runs from 16 matches. Both these expensive moves turned out to be failures similar to the previous year. Angelo Mathews was the most costly foreign player at INR 7.5 crores. Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Daredevils) was the most expensive signing among the uncapped players.

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#9 2016: Shane Watson (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - INR 9.5 Crores

Shane Watson

Two new franchises Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions were part of the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons as Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for 2 years. These two franchises were allowed to draft a maximum of five players each from the Chennai and Rajasthan teams.

Out of the 351 cricketers from the auction list, 94 were sold at the auction. Another big money move came from Royal Challenger Bangalore and this time it was the turn of Australian all-rounder Shane Watson to raise the roof.

Watson was bought by RCB for INR 9.5 crores. He was picked in order to bring the much-needed balance into their squad but turned out be a disappointing signing instead. The surprise buy of the season was Pawan Negi who turned out be the second most expensive player and the most expensive Indian (also uncapped at that time) with Delhi Daredevils spending INR 8.5 crores for him.