Little-known Railways all-rounder Karan Sharma struck gold at the IPL players' auction, becoming the costliest buy among the uncapped players by fetching a Rs 3.75 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Rishi Dhawan also fetched a stunning Rs 3 crore bid from Kings XI Punjab here today.
Kedar Jadhav clinched a two-crore contract with Delhi Daredevils as the uncapped cricketers went under the hammer on the second and final day of the auction.
The 26-year-old Karn Sharma pipped better-known names such as Indian under-19 captain Unmukt Chand (Rs 65 lakh, Rajasthan Royals) to grab the biggest deal of the morning session. The leg-spinning all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh had turned up for the same franchise last season as well, taking 11 wickets in 13 matches at a decent economy rate of 6.60.
Ranji Trophy's top wicket-taker this season, Dhawan (base price of Rs 20 lakh) was signed for a whopping Rs 3 crore by the Kings XI Punjab via the 'Right to Match' provision after being initially acquired by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
On the other hand, Ranji Trophy's top-scorer this season, Jadhav (base price Rs 30 lakh) went to Delhi Daredevils for Rs two crore after intense bidding. Delhi also used the 'Right to Match' provision after he was initially taken by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Dhawan is primarily a fast-bowling all-rounder who bats in the middle-order. The 23-year-old played for Kings XI Punjab in the 2008 IPL and was signed by the Mumbai Indians last season before being released.
The 26-year-old Jadhav has had a splendid domestic season and has also shown glimpses of his talent in the IPL. Jadhav was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore development squad to start with before being signed by Delhi Daredevils in 2010. He made a 29-ball 50 for Delhi against the Royal Challengers in his debut IPL match to win the Man of the match award. The next season, he was signed by the now-discarded Kochi Tuskers Kerala, for whom he turned up in six matches.
The other big winners after the initial bidding were Rajat Bhatia (Rs 1.70 crore, Rajasthan Royals), Manish Pandey (Rs 1.70 crore Kolkata Knight Riders), Aditya Tare (Rs 1.60 crore, Mumbai Indians), K L Rahul (Rs 1 crore, Sunrisers Hyderabad), Ishwar Pandey (Rs 1.50 crore, Chennai Super Kings), Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 1.30 crore, Kings XI Punjab), Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs 1.10 crore, Rajasthan Royals and Parveez Rasool (Rs 95 lakh, Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Rasool had scored 594 runs from seven matches at an average of 54 including two centuries in the last Ranji season. He also took 33 wickets at an average of 18 with three five-wicket hauls. The 25-year-old had become the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be a part of the Indian team and the IPL when he bagged a contract with the now-discarded Pune Warriors last season.
Also getting decent deals were all-rounders Jalaj Saxena (90 lakh, Mumbai Indians) and Akshar Patel (Rs 70 lakh, Kings XI Punjab), left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (Rs 85 lakh, Sunrisers Hyderabad) and batsman Karun Nair (Rs 75 lakh, Rajasthan Royals). Tare, with 41 dismissals in the last season of Ranji trophy, made a record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper. He was the second highest run-getter for Mumbai with 842 Runs, which included a double century and three half centuries. He was awarded as the Best Mumbai Ranji Cricketer for 2012-13.
Promising pacer Jasprit Bumrah was bought by his previous team Mumbai for Rs 1.20 crore. The 20-year-old has played 11 Twenty20 matches, taking 13 wickets.
All-rounder Mandeep Singh, former vice-captain of the Indian Under-19 team, was grabbed for Rs 80 lakh by Kings XI Punjab through the 'Right to Match' provision. The 22-year-old had been a part of the franchise earlier as well.
Among the foreigners, most of whom went unsold, it was South African pacer Beuran Hendricks, who triggered a bidding competition among the franchises. In the pool at a base price of Rs 30 lakh, Hendricks was bought for Rs 1.80 crore by Kings XI Punjab. The 23-year-old was the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the South African first-class cricket last season when he grabbed 35 scalps for Cape Cobras at a brilliant average of 17.74.
Many of the unsold players will now return to the auction with franchises given the option to name 10 of them in each category -- batsmen and wicketkeepers, bowlers and all-rounders.
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