The player auction for Indian Premier League 2021 turned out to be historic as Rajasthan Royals broke the record for most expensive player by signing Chris Morris for Rs 16.25 crores. The South African all-rounder was subject to a bidding war between Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals.
It turned out to be an auction for all rounders and fast bowlers. Glenn Maxwell was expected to be in demand after being released by Punjab Kings in January. The Australian all-rounder was picked up by Bangalore for Rs 14.25 crores. RCB also added Dan Christian to the squad for Rs 4.80 crores.Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings broke the bank to make Krishnappa Gowtham the most expensive uncapped player in IPL history by signing him for Rs 9.25 crores.
The Chennai based franchise also signed Moeen Ali for Rs 7 crores after losing the battle for Maxwell. . Meanwhile, Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube was signed by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 4.40 crores and Shakib Al Hasan will be back playing for Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.20 crores. Moises Henriques was picked up by Punjab for Rs 4.20 crores.
In terms of bowlers, the young guns from Australia and New Zealand bagged big deals during the auction. Jhye Richardson ended up at Punjab Kings for Rs 14 crores, while Bangalore won the race for Kiwi fast bowler Kyle Jamieson for Rs 15 crores. Delhi Capitals ended up with Tom Curran for Rs 5.25 crores and improved Indian bowling department by signing Umesh Yadav for Rs 1 crore. Punjab also flexed their purse for signing uncapped Australian pace bowler Riley Meredith for Rs 8 crores. Mumbai Indians bought back Nathan Coulter-Nile for Rs 5 crores and bolstered the bowling unit by signing Adam Milne for Rs 3.2 crores.
Batsmen found it difficult to fetch big fee during the auction as Steve Smith was the highest profile signing. The Australian batsman will represent Delhi in IPL 2021 for a fee worth Rs 2.20 crores. The number one T-20 batsman, Dawid Malan was signed by Punjab for his base fee- Rs 1.50 crores. Jason Roy, Aaron Finch, and Alex Hales went unsold during the auction.
In terms of Indian uncapped players, stars from this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 trophy were picked up for decent price. Shahrukh Khan will play under KL Rahul during IPL 2021 after Punjab managed to beat Delhi and Bangalore in bidding war to sign him for Rs 5.25 crores. Sachin Baby and Mohammed Azharudeen were picked up by Bangalore for combined fee of Rs 40 lakhs.
Capped Indian players such as Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, and Karun Nair went unsold during the first round of auction. All three players were picked for their base price after the break. Jadhav joined Sunrisers Hyderabad, while KKR picked up Turbanator and Nair. Sam Billings was also picked up in the second round by Delhi Capitals in the second round. Cheteshwar Pujara was a surprise batting pick for Chennai Super Kings during the auction.
Overall, it was a historic auction, but spotlight was mainly on bowlers and all-rounders. Overseas players fetched big fees since top Indian players were retained by IPL teams. Teams will be hoping that the costly gambles pay off in the short term with mega auction taking place next year.
Auction Summary:
Punjab Kings
- Jhye Richardson- Rs 14.0 crores
- Riley Meredith- Rs 8 crores
- Shahrukh Khan- Rs 5.25 crores
- Moises Henriques- Rs 4.80 crores
- Dawid Malan- Rs 1.50 crores
- Fabian Allen- Rs 75 lakhs
- Jalaj Saxena- Rs 30 lakhs
- Saurabh Kumar- Rs 20 lakhs
- Utkarsh Singh- Rs 20 lakhs
Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Kedar Jadhav- Rs 2 crores
- Mujeeb Ur Rahman- Rs 1.5 crores
- J Suchith- Rs 30 lakhs
Chennai Super Kings
- Krishnappa Gowtham- Rs 9.25 crores
- Moeen Ali- Rs 7 crores
- Cheteshwar Pujara- Rs 50 lakhs
- Bhagath Varma- Rs 20 lakhs
- C Hari Nishaanth- Rs 20 lakhs
- Harishankar Reddy- Rs 20 lakhs
Delhi Capitals
- Tom Curran- Rs 5.25 crores
- Steven Smith- Rs 2.2 crores
- Sam Billings- Rs 2 crores
- Umesh Yadav- Rs 1 crore
- Ripal Patel- Rs 20 lakhs
- Vishnu Vinod- Rs 20 lakhs
- Lukman Hussain Meriwala- Rs 20 lakhs
- M Siddarth- Rs 20 lakhs
Mumbai Indians
- Nathan Coulter-Nile- Rs 5 crores
- Adam Milne- Rs 3.2 crores
- Piyush Chawla- Rs 2.40 crores
- James Neesham- Rs 50 lakhs
- Yudhvir Charak- Rs 20 lakhs
- Marco Jansen- Rs 20 lakhs
- Arjun Tendulkar- Rs 20 lakhs
Kolkata Knight Riders
- Shakib Al Hasan- Rs 3.2 crores
- Harbhajan Singh- Rs 2 crores
- Ben Cutting- Rs 75 lakhs
- Karun Nair- Rs 50 lakhs
- Pawan Negi- Rs 50 lakhs
- Venkatesh Iyer- Rs 20 lakhs
- Sheldon Jackson- Rs 20 lakhs
- Vaibhav Arora- Rs 20 lakhs
Rajasthan Royals
- Christopher Morris- Rs 16.25 crores
- Shivam Dube- Rs 4.4 crores
- Chetan Sakariya- Rs 1.2 crores
- Mustafizur Rahman- Rs 1 crore
- Liam Livingstone- Rs 75 lakhs
- C Cariappa- Rs 20 lakhs
- Akash Singh- Rs 20 lakhs
- Kuldip Yadav- Rs 20 lakhs
Royal Challengers Bangalore
- Kyle Jamieson- Rs 15 crores
- Glenn Maxwell- Rs 14.25 crores
- Dan Christian- Rs 4.80 crores
- Sachin Baby- Rs 20 lakhs
- Raja Patidar- Rs 20 lakhs
- Mohammed Azharudeen- Rs 20 lakhs
- Suyash Prabhudesai- Rs 20 lakhs
- KS Bharat- Rs 20 lakhs
Money left in purse for teams:
- Mumbai Indians- Rs 3.65 crores (Squad strength- 25 players)
- Chennai Super Kings – Rs 2.55 crores (Squad strength- 25 players)
- Rajasthan Royals- Rs 13.65 crores (Squad strength- 24 players)
- Kolkata Knight Riders- Rs 3.20 crores (Squad strength- 25 players)
- Royal Challengers Bangalore- Rs 35 lakhs (Squad strength- 22 players)
- Sunrisers Hyderabad- Rs 6.95 crores (Squad strength- 25 players)
- Punjab Kings- Rs 18.80 crores (Squad strength-25 players)
- Delhi Capitals- Rs 2.15 crores (Squad strength- 25 players)