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The IPL mega auction took place on 24 and 25 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The auction proved to be really mega for the Indian players, because the top five most expensive players were from India. This happened for the first time in auction history. For the first time, the bids of two players crossed Rs 25 crore.
Many more surprising decisions were also seen in the auction. IPL champion captain David Warner and Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur could not find a buyer. English all-rounder Sam Curran’s price dropped by Rs 16.10 crore, while 13-year-old uncapped batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to become a millionaire in the IPL.
Top 5 surprises of auction in the story
1. Venkatesh’s price increased 3 times The prices of India’s Venkatesh Iyer and Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmed surprised. Kolkata bought Venkatesh for Rs 23.75 crore, he played for KKR last season. However, at that time his salary was only Rs 8 crore, this time he got 3 times more amount.
Bengaluru had also bid for Venkatesh, but KKR won in the end. He had scored a fifty in the IPL final against Hyderabad last season. Venkatesh has scored 1326 runs for KKR in 51 matches at a strike rate of 137.12.
2. Will Jacques and Noor Ahmed’s use of RTM The purchases of England’s Will Jacques and Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmed also surprised. Jacques was bought by Mumbai for Rs 5.25 crore and Noor was bought by Chennai for Rs 10 crore.
In the auction, Mumbai bid Rs 5.25 crore on Jacques, RCB could have used the Right to Match card here, but they refused. RCB also had a lot of money in its purse. After this decision, MI’s Akash Ambani got up from his table and went to shake hands with the RCB owner. Jacques scored 230 runs in 8 matches for RCB last season at a strike rate of 175.57.
Chennai bid Rs 5 crore in the auction on Afghanistan’s Noor. Here Gujarat used RTM. Chennai was asked to make the final bid, the team directly bid Rs 10 crore. Gujarat refused and Noor joined CSK for just Rs 10 crore. Noor was sold for Rs 30 lakh last season, this time his salary increased by almost 33 times.
3. 13 year old Vaibhav becomes uncapped millionaire Many uncapped players also became millionaires in the auction. Among these, the name of 13 year old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the most shocking. Rajasthan and Delhi bid for him at the base price of Rs 30 lakh. Ultimately Rajasthan bought him for Rs 1.10 crore. With this he became the youngest millionaire in IPL history.
Vaibhav plays domestic cricket from Bihar and has made his first class debut. The left hand opening batsman had also scored a century in the unofficial test against Australia Under-19 team two months ago. Therefore, his name emerged rapidly, which he benefited from in the auction also.
4. Shardul-Warner did not find a buyer David Warner, who made Hyderabad the IPL champion in 2016, did not find a buyer in the auction. He played the last season from Delhi, he could score only 168 runs in 8 matches. He has 6565 runs in his name in 184 matches of his IPL career.
All-rounder Shardul Thakur also remained unsold, his name came in the auction twice, but no team bid. Shardul was bought by Kolkata in 2023 for Rs 10 crore. He could take only 5 wickets in 9 matches from CSK last season. He has 307 runs and 94 wickets in his name in 95 matches of his career.
5. Curan’s price reduced by 7.7 times, Starc also came at half the price Left arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who got the highest price in the 2023 mini auction, did not even get half the price this time. At the same time, the value of Sam Curran, which was sold for Rs 18.50 crore, reduced by 7.7 times this time. Karan was bought by CSK for just Rs 2.40 crore, he took 16 wickets in 13 matches last season. Karan will now get Rs 16.10 crore less.
Starc was bought by KKR last season for Rs 24.75 crore. This time Delhi bought him for Rs 11.75 crore. His price dropped by 47.69%, he will get a full Rs 13 crore less than last time. Which is the lowest among the players this time after Karan.
