MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) held its player auction for the 2019 season on Tuesday in Jaipur. Between the eight franchises, 60 players were selected from the pruned list of 346 players that went down the hammer at a whopping Rs. 1.07 billion.
40 of those were Indians, especially uncapped players who have grabbed headlines again. While 20 of those are from overseas countries, predominantly keeping in mind the players’ availability ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and the venue of the tournament which is yet to be finalised.
Indian bowlers were bid for heavily. Hence it doesn’t come as a surprise that pacer Jaydev Unadkat became an IPL millionaire yet again, as he was bought back by the Rajasthan Royals, his team from last year at a price of Rs. 84 million. The Royals overcame competition from the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for it. The franchise had paid a staggering Rs. 115 million for his services in 2018, a strategy which backfired as his performance didn’t live up to expectations and his price tag.
However, Unadkat had to share the privilege of being the most expensive in the IPL 2019 auction with the unheralded spinner from Tamil Nadu, Varun Chakravarthy. Chakravarthy was picked up for Rs. 84 million as well by KXIP, as it overcame a tough bidding war with the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He gained some attention for his exploits in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2018 courtesy his mystery variations and wicket-taking ability. Incidentally, he was a net bowler for KKR during last year’s IPL as well.
India’s fast bowling pair in Test matches, Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma found their new IPL homes in KXIP (Rs. 48 million) and DC (Rs. 11 million) respectively. Shami and Ishant may not have an impressive record in the league, yet their services are being considered crucial seeing the possibility of Indian pacers given rest before the World Cup.
Although they are out of favour with the Indian selectors at present, all-rounder Axar Patel and fast bowler Mohit Sharma were Rs. 50 million picks for the Capitals and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) respectively.
Amongst other success stories, 24-year-old Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube was rewarded for an impressive Ranji Trophy showing as well as smashing 5 sixes in an over in his last game against Baroda at the Wankhede Stadium. Dube was intensely bid for by his home franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), with the latter winning the battle at Rs. 50 million.
RCB not only bagged Dube but also 16-year-old Prayas Ray Burman, who is a leg-spinner from Bengal. With Rs. 15 million splashed on him by the franchise following an intense duel with KXIP, Burman becomes the youngest player in the history of IPL cricket to earn more than Rs. 10 million.
RCB’s domestic-centric policy at the auction was extended with Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper batsman Akshdeep Nath being bought for Rs. 34 million from a base price of Rs. 2 million, with CSK losing this bid as well.
The young Patiala cricketing duo of 18-year-old Prabhsimran Singh and 20-year-old Anmolpreet Singh bagged deals worth Rs. 48 million and Rs. 8 million with KXIP and MI respectively. Both of them are cousins who have shot into the limelight with their performances for the India U-19 and India ‘A’ teams respectively.
As expected, KXIP proved to be the most aggressive in the auction, having Rs. 362 million at its disposal, which was the highest amongst all the franchises as it also released 11 players for the same. Hence, that helped them pick up England all-rounder Sam Curran for Rs. 7.2 million, making him the most expensive overseas player in the IPL 2019 auction. Curran was sought-after by the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as well.
However, the new-look Capitals franchise did successfully bid for former South African international Colin Ingram worth Rs. 64 million, with SRH on the losing side again. Ingram’s T20 experience around the world for teams such as Adelaide Strikers in the BBL and Glamorgan in the English domestic circuit, was noticeable. With the probability of the IPL 2019 shifted to South Africa, his insights could prove to be valuable and can make up for the absence of Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
Two-time champions KKR emerged winners for acquiring the services of West Indies’ T20I captain and all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite for Rs. 50 million, after he set his base price at Rs. 7.5 million. To make up for their nearly empty overseas cupboard, they also went for the England duo of all-rounder Joe Denly (Rs. 10 million) and fast bowler Harry Gurney (Rs. 7.5 million). New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was picked up at Rs. 1.6 million as well.
The West Indies batting duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran also bagged identical deals of Rs. 42 million from RCB and KXIP respectively.
Lastly, Mumbai Indians opted to go for experience and got bargain deals with the likes of Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga (Rs. 20 million) and Yuvraj Singh (Rs. 11 million).
Malinga went at his base price while remarkably, no franchise other than MI showed interest in acquiring Yuvraj’s services. It also opted for Indian left arm fast bowler Barinder Sran worth Rs. 34 million, as CSK also showed considerable amount of interest in him with his base price set at Rs. 5 million.
