From Chris Morris to Yuvraj Singh to Ben Stokes, the IPL auctions have seen some of the most furious bidding wars and expensive buys over the years
The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beckons and the first step of the lucrative league, i.e., the auction will be taking place in Chennai on February 18. In the last 13 years, the auction day has seen many days made, breakouts, expensive buys and some of the best players going unsold and this season promises to be another humdinger seeing the number of players in the auction pool.
So before the new auction, let us take a look at the most expensive buys throughout the auctions in the history of the IPL.
1. Chris Morris
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Rajasthan Royals broke the bank for Chris Morris to grab the South African all-rounder for a whopping 16.25 crores in the IPL 2021 auction. The Royals were involved in a furious bidding war but came out trumps to get the all-rounder as the most expensive buy in the history of the league. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
2. Yuvraj Singh - 16 crores
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India's flamboyant left-handed all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was purchased for a whopping 16 crores by the then Delhi Dardevisl before the IPL 2015. However, the southpaw returned with lowly returns by scoring just 248 runs in 14 matches, at an average of 19. Yuvraj was released by the franchise before the next season (Image: BCCI/IPL)
3. Pat Cummins -15.5 crores
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The Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders, who joined the bidding war late but eventually grabbed the Sydney-born pacer for a whopping price. The fast bowler set a new record for an overseas pick as the most expensive buy breaking the record set by England star all-rounder Ben Stokes in 2017. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
4. Ben Stokes - 14.5 crores
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The Rising Pune Supergiant broke the bank for the New Zealand-born English all-rounder in the year 2017 as they splurged 14.5 crores for Ben Stokes. Stokes was the highest paid overseas player in the IPL auction till last year, before Cummins was bought by the KKR for a higher amount. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
5. Yuvraj Singh - 14 crores
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Yuvraj features in the list again as just before Delhi spent the amount of money they did on the left-hander, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) also had spent in 2014, 14 crores to get the all-rounder to play for the side before releasing him the next season. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
6. Ben Stokes - 12.5 crores
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Like Yuvraj, Stokes also features again in the list as after the Pune Supergiant were defunct from the tournament after 2017, Rajasthan Royals spent close to the same amount the Pune franchise had spent to get the all-rounder in their side. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
7. Dinesh Karthik - 12.5 crores
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The Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman, who has played for six franchises in the league was acquired by the Delhi Daredevils again, in the 2014 season as they spent 12.5 crores for the experienced batsman. Karthik had played for the franchise before in the first three seasons. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
8. Jaydev Unadkat - 11.5 crores
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The left-arm pacer from Saurashtra was a hot property in the 2018 auction after his exploits in 2017 for the Supergiants for whom he took a hattrick. Rajasthan Royals were in a spending mood in that auction as they spent 11.5 crores to get the left-arm quick in their side. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
9. Gautam Gambhir - 11.4 crores
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After being and captaining his home side Delhi, Gambhir was purchase by the Knight Riders for a whopping sum of INR 11.4 crores. Gambhir was later made the captain of the franchise, who after that led them for seven straight years and led them to two title in the years 2012 and 2014. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
10. KL Rahul - 11 crores
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The current Punjab Kings skipper was bought by the franchise in the 2018 mega auction for a sum of 11 crores. Rahul had a breakout season with the franchise scoring 654 runs in 14 games as he took the league by storm by his explosive batting. Rahul was made the skipper of the side two years later, after they let go off Ravichandran Ashwin after the 2019 season. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
11. Manish Pandey - 11 Crores
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Rahul's statemate Manish Pandey also went for big bucks in the same auction as the Sunrisers Hyderabad picked the middle-order player for INR 11 crores. Even though he didn't have a great first season with SRH, however, the faith shown by the franchise came good for them as he started showing his form in the later seasons. (Image: BCCI/IPL)
