The auctions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) always generate exquisite excitement as not only big stars but also the lesser-known players become million-dollar buys. A similar story was replicated on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
It all started with Shreyas Iyer breaching the 10 crore barrier as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped him in for INR 12.25 crores. Similarly, pacer Deepak Chahar also scripted history as he became the costliest Indian bowler after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) acquired his services for a whopping INR 14 crore.
However, the main attraction of the opening day of IPL 2022 auctions was wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan. The explosive left-handed batter triggered the bidding war among four franchises, where Mumbai Indians (MI) eventually won the battle by bidding as much as INR 15.25 crore. Ishan became the fourth most expensive player in IPL auction history and second amongst Indian stars.
However, over the last 14 years and in as many auctions, several stars have broken the bank. Currently, Chris Morris, the South Africa pacer who retired from international cricket in January this year, holds the record for the most expensive buy at an auction. He was roped in by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 16.25 crore last year.
On that note, let’s have a look at the most expensive buy at each IPL auction:
- ₹9.5 crore: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 2008
- ₹9.8 crore: Andrew Flintoff (Chennai Super Kings), Kevin Pietersen (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 2009
- ₹4.8 crore: Shane Bond (Kolkata Knight Riders), Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) – 2010
- ₹14.9 crore: Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 2011
- ₹12.8 crore: Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) – 2012
- ₹6.3 crore: Glenn Maxwell (Mumbai Indians) – 2013
- ₹14 crore: Yuvraj Singh (Royal Challengers Bangalore) 2014
- ₹16 crore: Yuvraj Singh (Delhi Capitals) – 2015
- ₹9.5 crore: Shane Watson (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 2016
- ₹14.5 crore: Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiants) – 2017
- ₹12.5 crore: Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals) – 2018
- ₹8.4 crore: Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals), Varun Chakravarthy (Kings XI Punjab) – 2019
- ₹15.5 crore: Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 2020
- ₹16.6 crore: Chris Morris (Rajasthan Royals) – 2021
- ₹15.25 crore: Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) – 2022