IPL mega auction: All eyes on Iyer, Chahar and Kishan

Bengaluru: Dashing batter Shreyas Iyer and the multi-skilled Shardul Thakur are expected to laugh their way to the bank as two of the costliest buys in the history of Indian Premier League when the last mega-auction commences here on Saturday. The 10 teams in the league, following the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants, […]

Bengaluru: Dashing batter Shreyas Iyer and the multi-skilled Shardul Thakur are expected to laugh their way to the bank as two of the costliest buys in the history of Indian Premier League when the last mega-auction commences here on Saturday.

The 10 teams in the league, following the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants, will be bidding heavily for the Indian players in a list of 590 cricketers, including 227 overseas candidates up for grabs during the two-day event. This year’s auction might witness the maximum number of Indian million dollar buys (Rs 7.5 crore and above) with more than 10 cricketers set to cross Rs 10 crore bid range and some expected to hit close to Rs 20 crore.

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While Iyer could be the highest ever auction buy (in the 20 crore range), the likes of Shardul and Kishan (keeper-batter), with their bouquet of skills, can also fetch anything in the range of Rs 12-15 crore or even upwards if some franchises get into intense bidding wars.

Then there are Deepak Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal, who can also get anything in the range of $2 million (Rs 15 crore) as both of them are proven international performers. With megastars like Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings), Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) retained by their respective franchises, teams would look from flamboyant middle-order batters to good wrist spinners not to forget the all-rounders, who are always in demand.

While KL Rahul, at Rs 17 crore, is the player with highest retention price, former Delhi Capitals skipper Iyer might force some of the franchises like Punjab Kings (Rs 72 crore purse), Sunrisers Hyderabad (Rs 68 crore) and Rajasthan Royals (Rs 62 crore) to break the bank. These are franchises that need solid middle-order game-changers and also a member of the leadership group in case a Mayank Agarwal or Kane Williamson don’t work out.

For Dhoni’s CSK, it would be about going mostly go for tried and tested performers, who are known to win matches and championships while teams like Punjab and Rajasthan, as has been their habit, would bid insane amounts for left-field selections. Even Kolkata Knight Riders where former Mumbai Ranji stalwart Abhishek Nayar, by virtue of being the eyes and ears of CEO Venky Mysore, has the maximum say might go all-out for Iyer as they require a captaincy candidate.

However, with a dodgy retention like Varun Chakravarthy, who is never fully fit and hardly plays anything save IPL, has put the team in a spot with only Rs 48 crore in purse and an entire team to build. Since this is a mega auction and teams need to have a minimum of 18 players on their roster (everyone will go in range of 22 to 25 players), the Indian players – both capped and uncapped – will be highly valued.

David Warner is back in form and expects at least three franchises to empty their coffers for the Australian opener who will grab anything between $1.5 to 2 million. Apart from opening the batting, Warner is among the rare overseas captaincy candidates, having guided Sunrisers to the trophy back in 2016 before an ugly fallout last year.

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