NEW DELHI: South African all-rounder Chris Morris set cash registers ringing at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 mini auction today as he emerged the most expensive overseas cricketer to be signed in the history of the tournament. Rajasthan Royals snagged him for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore.
Morris surpassed Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh who was acquired by Delhi Capitals for Rs 16 crores in IPL 2015. Last year, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins came close with a winning bid of Rs 15.5 crores made by Kolkata Knight Riders.
Australian batsman Glen Maxwell, who was formerly with the newly re-christened Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) too earned big at the auction and went to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 14.25 crore. His Aussie teammate and former Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith was sold to Delhi Capitals for an underwhelming Rs 2.2 crore.
As many as 292 cricketers went under the hammer today, as the auctions for one of India’s biggest cricketing spectacle were held in Chennai, setting the stage for the much-awaited return of the fourteenth edition of the T20 extravaganza this April. Vivo is back as the title sponsor of the league, IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed as the auction started. The tournament will be broadcast by Star India Network on its cluster of channels.
Right from its inception, the league has been a destination where talent meets opportunity and it was evident once again as core management teams of eight IPL franchises returned to the auction table. The number one ranked T20I batsman Dawid Mallan was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 1.5 crore. Rajasthan Royals picked up Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube for Rs 4.4 crore. Chennai Super Kings filled their overseas slot with England cricketer Moeen Ali with a winning bid of Rs 7 crore.
As many as ten cricketers including two Indian players – `Turbanator’ Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jhadav and eight overseas players – Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy and Mark Wood – had chosen to be slotted in the highest bracket with a reserve price of Rs 2 crore. However, Singh, a veteran Indian off-spinner, was one of the biggest names to go unsold at the 2021 auction. 12 players in the auction list had a base price of Rs 1.5 crore and 11 in the base price of Rs 1 crore. Indian Test specialist Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are the two Indian players in the list of eleven cricketers with a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 139 players were retained by the franchises this year whereas 57 players were released from their existing squads.
