Bengaluru, Feb. 12 (IANS): Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan became the second-most expensive Indian player in the history of IPL after being picked by his former team Mumbai Indians for a whopping INR 15.25 crores.
Kishan overtook Shreyas Iyer, who was picked for INR 12.25 crores, to become the most expensive buy of the ongoing auction so far.
Apart from Kishan, Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran landed paychecks in excess of INR 10 crores in the third round.
Charu Sharma stepped in for the auctioneer duties after Hugh Edmeades had collapsed, with Hasaranga bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 10.75 crores. The move meant Hasaranga was reunited with the team he represented in IPL 2021.
As expected in case of keeper-batters, there was a frenetic bid for Kishan, a keeper who bats left-handed. His former team Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans were engaged in a tug of war before Sunrisers Hyderabad made a late entry.
Mumbai persisted hard to buy back left-handed Kishan for a gigantic INR 15.25 crores.
Chennai and Hyderabad were in a battle to buy Pooran before Kolkata made a surprise entry. But Hyderabad battled hard to buy Pooran, who averaged just 7.72 in 2021 edition, for INR 10.75 crores.
Apart from the trio, Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya earned big. Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi Capitals were locked in a battle to get off-spin all-rounder Sundar. Lucknow Super Giants came into the mix at INR 8 crore. But Hyderabad waded into the bidding war and bought Sundar for INR 8.75 crores.
For Pandya, a solid left-arm spin all-rounder for Mumbai in the past despite recent performances not up to the mark, Chennai, Punjab, Hyderabad, and Lucknow were in the bidding battle. Then Gujarat jumped in as well. But it was Lucknow who won with INR 8.75 crores.
It also means that Pandya and Deepak Hooda, who were involved in a bitter spat ahead of the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali season, are now in the same IPL side.
Hyderabad and Gujarat were the initial bidders for Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh but Delhi joined in and eventually got him for INR 6.75 crores.
Punjab and Hyderabad were engaged in battle for Jonny Bairstow with Delhi. But Punjab stayed their ground to pick Bairstow for INR 6.75 crores.
Ambati Rayudu generated interest from Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. But Chennai won the race to buy Rayudu for INR 6.75 crores. Chennai were then engaged in an engrossing battle with Bangalore to pick Dinesh Karthik.
Eventually, Bangalore snapped him for INR 5.5 crores, marking their reunion with Karthik after 2015 edition.
Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi was surprisingly unsold so was Australia keeper-batter Matthew Wade. India keeper Wriddhiman Saha and England keeper-batter Sam Billings also found no takers.