Mumbai: The first day of the IPL mega player auction at Jeddah threw up several multi-crorepatis as Indian players laughed all the way to the bank with fat paychecks.
The auction started with two mind-boggling deals, with Sreyash Iyer being bought for a record Rs 26.75 crore by Punjab Kings before Rishabh Pant surpassed that with Rs 27 crore from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Later on Sunday evening, it was Venkatesh Iyer who turned out to be a huge draw. Starting with a base price of Rs 2 crore, the allrounder was retained by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping price of Rs 23.75 crore. Venkatesh, who has played 2 ODIs and 9 T20Is for India, has not donned any other colour in IPL but for the purple and gold of KKR.
Pant, Shreyas and Venkatesh thus became the top three all-time costly cricketers in IPL, putting to shade a trio of foreign stars — Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore in 2024), Pat Cummins (Rs 20.50 crore in 2024) and Sam Curran (Rs 18.50 crore in 2023) – who headed the list before the current auction.
Other Indian cricketers to pocket a hefty paycheck include Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 18 crore each), KL Rahul (Rs 14 crore).
Among overseas cricketers, Englishman Jos Buttler received Rs 15.75 crore from Gujarat Titans, Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore and leading South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada fetched was acquired by Gujarat Titans for Rs 10.75 crore.
TOP INDIAN BUYS ON FIRST DAY OF IPL MEGA AUCTION
Rishabh Pant (base price Rs 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 27 crore to Lucknow Super Giants
Shreyas Iyer (base price Rs 2 cr) — Sold for Rs 26.75 crore to Punjab Kings
Venkatesh Iyer (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 23.75 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders
Arshdeep Singh (base price Rs 2 cr) – Sold for Rs 18 crore to Punjab Kings using RTM card.
Yuzvendra Chahal (base price Rs 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 18 crore to Punjab Kings.
KL Rahul (base price Rs 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 14 crore to Delhi Capitals.
Mohammed Siraj (base price Rs 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 12.25 crore to Gujarat Titans.
Ishan Kishan (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 11.25 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Jitesh Sharma (base price Rs 1 crore) — Sold for Rs 11 crore to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
T Natarajan (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 10.75 crore to Delhi Capitals.
Mohammed Shami (base price Rs 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 10 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Avesh Khan (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 9.75 crore to Lucknow Super Giants.
Ravichandran Ashwin (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 9.75 crore to Chennai Super Kings
Prasidh Krishna (base price 2 crore) — Sold for Rs 9.5 crore to Gujarat Titans.
