Bangalore: A rookie all-rounder eclipsing IPL veteran Yuvraj Singh as the costliest Indian player was not something many dared to imagine.
If it was Yuvraj last year, when Delhi DareDevils paid a staggering Rs16 crore for the star batsman, it’s once again the turn of the Delhi franchise to break the bank although no team broke the Rs 10 crore barrier on Saturday.
In a determined pursuit, the DareDevils bagged the left-arm spinner-cum-batsman Pawan Negi for Rs 8.50 crore.
Australia’s veteran all-rounder Shane Watson emerged as the biggest draw, going for a whopping Rs 9.50 crore, but it was young Negi who turned heads with the mind-boggling deal.
The 34-year-old Watson, who marked his return to form with a blazing century against India in the final T20I in Sydney in the recently-concluded series, triggered an intense bidding war among three franchises before Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched the deal with the highest package at this year’s auction.
Yuvraj Singh was the second-most costliest Indian after Negi — Rs 7 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad even though the bid was far less than the Rs 16 crore he had garnered at the last auction.
The Indian duo were the big hits of the morning session which started with the auctioning for the 12 marquee players.
Also walking away with a package of Rs 7 crore was South Africa’s big-hitting all-rounder Chris Morris, who was bought by Delhi DareDevils.
However, the show-stealer of the day came in the post-lunch session in the 23-year-old Negi, who has created a flutter with his selection for the World Twenty20 next month.
The youngster, who has played for Chennai Super Kings, had a bonanza awaiting him just a day after being selected for the Indian team. No uncapped player has clinched a mammoth deal.
A beaming T.A. Sekar, mentor of the DareDevils, later said the management did a lot of homework to get Negi who could also be used as a pinch hitter to accelerated the run-rate. “We knew how much Negi would go for and had a budget of Rs 10 crore for him, but we got him for less,” said Sekar.
From Negi’s base price of Rs 30 lakh, some quick bidding took the figure to Rs 8.5 crore with DareDevils executing its well cut out plan to perfection.
The DareDevils had the biggest purse at Rs 37.15 crore and went home with the satisfaction of also bagging West Indies all-rounder Carlos Braithwaite for Rs 4.2 crore after some intense bidding.
Among DareDevils’ major overseas buys was South African Morris, who had a base price of Rs 30 lakh. Kolkata Knight Riders was in the race until it backed out at Rs 6.5 crore.
Captain Gautam Gambhir who was at the team desk said: “We were just looking for some back-ups as we have a well balanced team.”
Of the 351 players who featured in the auction, 94 players were sold, according to a BCCI release. This comprises 66 Indians and 28 players from overseas while 257 players went unsold.
The total amount spent on the player auction was Rs 136 crore. Among those sold, 41 players are capped and 53 uncapped.
Among those who went unsold at the auction were Darren Sammy, Martin Guptill, Nathan Lyon, Michael Hussey, Shaun Tait, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Usman Khawaja, Hashim Amla, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary.
The Knight Riders made some strategic buying by paying Rs 1.5 crore for Ankit Rajpoot, (base price Rs 20 lakh), Rs 1.3 crore for Jaydev Unadkat (base price Rs 30 lakh), Rs 1.3 crore each for John Hastings (base price Rs 1 crore) and Colin Munro (Rs 30 lakh base price), Rs 70 lakh for Jason Holder (base price Rs 50 lakh), R Satish (Rs 20 lakh) and Manan Sharma (Rs 10 lakh) for their base prices.
Venky Mysore, Knight Riders CEO, later said the team was already well balanced. “We already have a settled team that won two championships.”
He admitted getting Munro for Rs 30 lakh was a real steal. “We were very fortunate to get him for that price,” said Mysore.
