Out of favour Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads Indian pacers' 'Pay Day' at IPL mega-auction
Bihar's Vaibhav Suryavanshi, at 13 years, became the youngest ever player to be picked by an IPL franchise while out-of-favour India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar fetched a winning bid of Rs 10.75 crore from Royal Challengers Bengaluru on a largely predictable second day of the mega auction, in Jeddah on Monday.
Suryavanshi went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore. Suryavanshi, talked about as a prodigy, made his T20 debut for Bihar in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Rajasthan on Saturday and scored a 6-ball 13 before falling to Deepak Chahar.
Suryavanshi made headlines recently when he became the youngest batter to score an international century, achieving the feat in a Youth Test for India Under-19 against Australia U-19 in Chennai. He smashed 104 off 62 balls in that match.
Ajinkya Rahane, who had gone unsold earlier in the day, returned to the auction and to the Kolkata Knight Riders' camp for Rs 1.50 crore.
However, the Mumbai duo of Shardul Thakur and Prithvi Shaw along with New Zealand stars Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips were among the unsold players.
But before the youngster sprang a surprise, lesser-fancied Indian fast bowlers hit pay dirt.
Out of national reckoning for more than two years, Bhuvneshwar's experience was in demand among the IPL franchises earlier in the day.
Bhuvneshwar, who will be 35 before the start of next IPL, has 300 wickets from 287 career T20 games and an economy rate of less than eight. But he last played for India during a tour of New Zealand in November 2022 and is considered well past his prime at the international level.
However, with at least three Indian pacers needed per team, the pool is not large enough to ensure equal distribution among the 10 teams.
Therefore, an out-of-favour Bhuvneshwar, an injury-prone Deepak Chahar (Rs 9.25 crore for Mumbai Indians) and a Test reserve Mukesh Kumar (Rs 8 crore RTM by Delhi Capitals) got good deals on the second day when franchises came with leaner purse after splurging on Sunday.
Chahar expressed confidence in his fitness as he has bowled a lot in the Ranji Trophy.
"After the last IPL season, I went to UK for training. I was training with a big football club there. Then, I came back and played five Ranji Trophy matches, bowling about 150 overs.
"Now, I'm playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So, I've been playing cricket regularly since the past six months, and I've been training well. My main goal is to play for India again, so I need to play all the 14 matches, play at my full potential," said Chahar as the event entered the accelerated auction phase.
In Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, MI have two of the world's finest fast bowlers and they will be expected to inflict the bulk of damage on the opposition batting line-up, but Chahar is ready to play his part with the new ball as well as in the death.
"As a bowler, I like to take up challenges and perform to the best of my ability. At CSK, I had my roles, and now at MI, I will have different roles, but I'm ready for it."
"I hope to do well with both bat and ball, and contribute to MI's win. Wankhede has a seaming track, and in my past performances I've done well there. So, I'll be looking to continue doing well for my team."
Akash Deep, the Test pacer, got a Rs 8 crore deal from Lucknow Super Giants.
What works for Chahar and Bhuvneshwar is their ability to swing the white ball in Powerplays. Mukesh has takers for his wide yorkers at the death.
Even a Tushar Deshpande, who has an economy rate of close to 10 runs per over, was snapped by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 6.50 crore. He is currently recuperating from an ankle operation.
Former RCB skipper Faf du Plessis became the biggest bargain buy for Delhi Capitals at a base price of Rs two crore while Gujarat Titans were smart to lap up India all-rounder Washington Sundar for Rs 3.20 crore.
The paucity of good seam bowling Indian all-rounders in the auction list allowed South African Marco Jansen to laugh his way to the bank with a Rs seven crore deal from Punjab Kings.
Englishman Sam Curran, who had once attracted a Rs 18 crore bid, only had a couple of takers with CSK bringing him back home at Rs 2.40 crore.
Shardul, Shaw and Rahane can come back for the accelerated auction if the franchises pick them for it.
For Rahane, it wasn't surprising as his form dipped alarmingly during his second season with CSK and during the ongoing domestic season, he has managed to hold his Mumbai spot due to his role of skipper.
In case of Shardul, it is the 'Impact Player' rule that became his undoing as neither his batting has the requisite firepower for T20 cricket nor does his seam bowling, with a T20I economy rate of 9.15, inspires confidence.
For Shaw, massive weight gain and fitness issues along with off-the-field drama has not exactly enhanced his reputation.
Among the three, only Shaw still has a chance to find some takers at the end because of his explosive Powerplay game. But his struggle against quality pace is well-documented.
Hardik Pandya's brother Krunal Pandya got a Rs 5.75 crore deal from RCB who needed an experienced spin bowling all-rounder.
Nitish Rana, who had once breached the million dollar mark as an uncapped player, got a Rs 4.20 crore winning bid from Rajasthan Royals.
