Mega Auction: Five most expensive players on Day 1

Day One of the auction saw franchises bid for marquee players, capped and uncapped. The first round saw aggressive bidding from ten teams as players went for more than three times their base price. Some teams took back their previous season’s players, while some players have joined a new team.

Ishan Kishan (10.75 crores)

The most expensive player currently is wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. Having played for India, his base price was 2 crores INR going into the auction. Kishan was released by Mumbai last year. The bidding war started between Punjab and Mumbai. At 8 crores, Punjab pulled out and was replaced by Gujarat. At 10.75 crores, the five-time winners consulted with each other and then came back to bid again. Hyderabad also entered into the war but pulled out around 15 crores. At 15.25 crores, Mumbai nabbed the left-hander services.

Deepak Chahar (14 crores )

The second costliest player was bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar. He entered into the auction with a base price of 2 crores as well. Delhi and Hyderabad started the bidding. They kept on bidding till the prices went up to 11 crores. His last years’ team Chennai came into the bidding and kept tussling with Delhi. At 13.50 crores, Rajasthan entered into the fray only to pull out again. The four-time winners finally nabbed the new-ball bowler for 14 crores.

Shreyas Iyer ( 12.25 crores )

The third costliest player was Shreyas Iyer. He was slotted in the marquee player list with a base price of 2 crores. The bid was started by Delhi, his old team and Bangalore. After a while, Bangalore pulled out and were replaced by Lucknow. At 10 crores, Gujarat entered the bidding, only to be beaten by Kolkata at 12.25 crores.

Wanindu Hasaranga/Harshal Patel/Nicholas Pooran/Shardul Thakur (10.75 crores)

The next joint costliest players were Wanindu Hasaranaga (Bangalore), Harshal Patel (Bangalore), Nicholas Pooran (Hyderabad) and Shardul Thakur (Delhi) as they were nabbed for 10.75 crores each.