The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) annual auction has started, and the officials of the participating franchises have put their cards on the table. The result: top 3 players have amounted to over Rs 50 crore with England’s Sam Curran on top after being auctioned for a whooping Rs 18.5 crore. All-rounder Curran went back to Punjab Kings following a bidding war involving Chennai Super Kings.
Australia’s Cameron Green and England’s Ben Stokes were bought for Rs 17.5 crore and Rs 16.25 crore respectively by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Lucknow Super Giants bought West Indies player Nicholas Pooran for Rs 16 crore after a bidding war with Delhi Capitals.
England players were in demand as batter Harry Brook earned a Rs 13.25 crore winning from Sunrisers Hyderabad. Brook, who struck three hundreds in as many games and set a new record for most runs by an England batter in a Test series in Pakistan, started at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore, PTI reported. The bidding for Brook was mainly between SRH and Rajasthan Royals. India international Mayank Agarwal was also bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.25 crore. His base price was set at Rs 1 crore.
New Zealand stalwart Kane Williamson was sold at his base price at Rs 2 crore to Gujarat Titans. India batter Ajinkya Rahane was sold at his base price of Rs 50 lakh to Chennai Supper Kings, the only bidder for the player. South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw and Bangladesh al-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan went unsold. West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.75 crore.
(With Agency Inputs)