The Indian Premier League auctions have always been a weird place. Some of the best players in international cricket have gone unsold, and relatively new players have gained millions. It’s still a mystery when it comes to the planning of the teams. However, most of the expensive players have failed in the IPL. Let’s look at the list:
2008
MS Dhoni, CSK
In the first season of the IPL, the then Indian captain had led the team successfully and lifted the 2007 World Cup. Soon, he became the captain of CSK, lifted the IPL thrice and has become the thala of the state.
2009
Kevin Pietersen(RCB), Andrew Flintoff (CSK)
In the second season of the IPL, the England players Pietersen and Flintoff attracted a mammoth amount of money, $1.55 million. However, both the players did not make justice to the money as Flintoff managed to play only a few games before picking up a knee injury whereas, Pietersen managed only 93 of his six matches.
2010
Kieron Pollard (MI), Shane Bond (KKR)
2010 witnessed mini-auction. Pollard was picked up by Mumbai Indians for $0.75 million, since then he became a regular for the team and is one of the core members who has taken the team to win in many of the matches. Whereas, Shane Bond went for the same amount to Kolkata Knight Riders. The pacer had a decent season by picking up nine wickets in 8 matches.
2011
Gautham Gambhir (KKR)
2011 was a memorable year for Gambhir. The former cricketer led the team to World Cup win and days later, he became the highest buy of the 2011 season with $2.5 million. Kolkata cashed in money for Gambhir who later became their captain, helped the team to lift the trophy.
2012
Ravindra Jadeja (CSK)
Ever since he played for Rajasthan Royals, Jadeja grabbed many eyes. He soon went on to play for Kochi Tuskers and when the franchise was defunct, he was picked up by CSK for $2 million and since then he became the secret weapon of MS Dhoni and is one of the most loved cricketers in Chennai today.
2013
Glenn Maxwell (MI)
Backed by his domestic knocks, Maxwell was one of the top stars in the 2013 IPL. Mumbai Indians bought him for $1 Million but he managed only 36 runs from 3 innings and he was released soon.
2014
Yuvraj Singh (RCB)
The former Indian all-rounder grabbed all the eyes as he was picked for 14 crore rupees in the auction by RCB. However, he failed to impress and had an ordinary tournament.
2015
Yuvraj Singh (DD)
Despite his poor performance last year, Yuvraj Singh was once again a hit among the team selectors. This time he went for 16 crore rupees and was bought by the then Delhi Daredevils. Once again, the all-rounder had a normal performance.
2016
Shane Watson (RCB)
RCB went on to spend a huge amount, 9.5 crore rupees, on the Australian all-rounder Shane Watson in 2016 after Rajasthan Royals was banned for two years.
Watson scored only 176 runs from his 14 matches, however, he grabbed 20 wickets.
2017
Ben Stokes (RPS)
The now-defunct franchise Rising Pune Supergiants bought the England all-rounder for 14.5 crore rupees. Ben Stokes not only perform well but also he grabbed the ‘MVP’ award.
2018
Ben Stokes (RR)
After coming back from the ban, Rajasthan Royals went on to bid for Ben Stokes and eventually bought him for 12.5 crore rupees. The all-rounder, however, failed to perform big as he grabbed only eight wickets and scored less as well.
2019
Varun Chakravarthy(KXIP), Jaydev Unadkat(RR)
The last season witnessed two of the surprise bidding. Tamil Nadu’s Varun Chakravarthy who impressed in the TNPL got selected by KXIP in the auction for a jaw-dropping price of 8.4 crore rupees. Also, Jaydev Unadkat grabbed the same amount from the Rajasthan Royals.
However, Varun got injured during the mid-season and Unadkat had a forgetful tournament.
