IPL auction 2023: From MS Dhoni to Ishan Kishan, most expensive players in IPL auction every year

The eyes of the entire world will be on Kochi today as the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction 2023 will take place in Kochi on December 23, Friday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. All the 10 franchises have reached Kochi, along with the auctioneer Hugh Edmeads, with the auction set to begin at 2:30 PM IST. 

Being the most lucrative T20 league in the world, IPL has been some of the highest-paid players in the world, when it comes to T20 leagues. Not only does the prize money of IPL (20 crores) is the biggest ever across all the leagues in the world, but the best of the best ply their trade here. 

Former Indian skipper and current Chennai Super Kings stalwart MS Dhoni was the most expensive pick when IPL first came to the fore when the then-Indian captain bagged a lucrative deal worth Rs 6 crore. From then onwards, the sum earned by highest paid players each year has only risen. 

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In 2009, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were the highest-paid players at Rs 7.55 crore each. The following year, Shane Bond and Mumbai Indians' Kieron Pollard fetched top bids worth Rs 3.42 crore. 

Gautam Gambhir became the most expensive Indian player in 2011, raking in Rs 11.4 crore while Ravindra Jadeja joined Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a staggering Rs 9.72 crore in the year 2012. 

In 2013, Glen Maxwell fetched a massive Rs 5.3 crore bid, while Yuvraj Singh became the most expensive Indian pick in 2014, at Rs 14 crore, the following year, he once again shattered his own record, going to Delhi Capitals for Rs 16 crore in 2015. 

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Shane Watson briefly became the highest-paid overseas pick in 2016 earning a massive 9.5 crore, before Ben Stokes' move to Rajasthan Royals in 2017 for a staggering 14.5 crore eclipsed all records. 

In 2018 Stokes again became the highest-paid player in the auction at 12.5 crores, before Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy both fetched Rs 8.4 crore in the IPL auction in 2019. 

Australia's Pat Cummins also featured in the list of most expensive picks of all time, when he raked in Rs 15.5 crore in the IPL auction 2020, before Chris Morris became the most expensive foreign recruit in the league's history by fetching a mind-boggling Rs 16.25 crore in IPL 2021 auction. 

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Last year, Mumbai Indians made Ishan Kishan one of the most expensive Indian players, with a massive bid of Rs 15.25 crore.