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IPL Auction: Unadkat costliest Indian; Afghans continue to surprise

Source:PTI
January 28, 2018

There were no takers for big international names such as India fast bowler Ishant Sharma, South Africans Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn along with England's Eoin Morgan and New Zealand's Corey Anderson.

IMAGE: Jaydev Unadkat in action for Rising Pune Supergiants during IPL-10. Photograph: BCCI

India fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat claimed a whopping Rs 11.5 crore deal with the usually thrifty Rajasthan Royals while Australia pacer Andrew Tye fetched a Rs 7.2 crore deal from Kings XI Punjab on day two of the IPL Players' Auction, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.

 

While Unadkat and Tye enjoyed big pay day, 17-year-old Sandeep Lamichhane made history by becoming the first cricketer from Nepal to be bought in the auction with Delhi Daredevils picking him up for Rs 20 lakh.

After leggie Rashid Khan took home Rs nine crore on the opening day, another Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Zadran, all of 16 years, was richer by Rs four crore when Punjab made the winning bid for the teen sensation.

Zadran has already played for Afghanistan at the highest level and is currently part of the Under-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand. His teammate in New Zealand, Zahir Khan, went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 60 lakh.

KXIP and RR went into the auction with the biggest purse having retained only one player. RR continued spending big on day two and KXIP too was not far behind.

The Royals, known for their wise spending, splurged some more to also clinch Karnataka off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham for Rs 6.2 crore.

IMAGE: Australia fast bowler Andrew Tye celebrates a wicket for Gujarat Lions during IPL-10. Photograph: BCCI

Unadkat became the costliest Indian buy at the auction this year with his price skyrocketing to Rs 11.5 crore from a base price of Rs 1.5 crore after a bidding war between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. Rajasthan Royals, however, had the last laugh.

Unadkat was sought after because of his specialist T20 skills and the fact that he took 24 wickets at 13.41 for Rising Pune Supergiant last season.

Royals had also made the auction's most expensive buy on Day 1 on Saturay, picking up England all-rounder Ben Stokes for Rs 12.5 crore.

Their another costly purchase was offie Gowtham, who was sold for 31 times his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

The teams continued with their strategy of going after the Indian players.

Bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 3.2 crore, Punjab pacer Sandeep Sharma went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 3 crore, Kings XI Punjab used Right to Match to retain Mohit Sharma for Rs 2.4 crore, Jharkhand spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was bought back by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 3.2 crore and Mohammad Siraj was picked up by RCB for Rs 2.6 crore.

Like on the first day, KKR targetted the budding talent, picking up another India Under-19 fast bowler Shivam Mavi for Rs 3 crore after buying Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shubman Gill on day one.

At a base of price of Rs 50 lakh, CSK got a bargain in South African pacer Lungi Ngidi.

However, there were no takers for big international names such as India fast bowler Ishant Sharma, Dale Steyn, England's Eoin Morgan and New Zealand's Corey Anderson.

Source: PTI
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