But the surprise of the morning was 18-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan and all-rounder Mohammed Nabi being bought by defending champions SRH, making them the first Afghanistan cricketers to be bought by an IPL franchise. Kings XI Punjab have the largest remaining budget of Rs23.25 crore, which it can use to buy up to eight players.
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It was a big pay day for Karnataka’s spin-bowling all-rounder K Gowtham, left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary and all-rounder Pawan Negi as well.
India allrounder Pawan Negi, who was bought for INR 8.5 crore past year and then released by Delhi Daredevils, was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx). The left-armer has retired from global cricket and even though he has enough IPL experience, Rs 2 crore is seen as too high a tag for him.
The franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka didn’t say if that was the reason for replacing (or is it sacking?) MS Dhoni as the skipper but he nevertheless elaborated on the decision to appoint Steve Smith as the captain for this season.
He will be joined at the IPL in April and May by his England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, snapped up by Kings XI Punjab for £240,000, and their worldwide team-mate Chris Woakes – who fetched around £500,000 and will play for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Englishmen are dominating in the money stakes, with T20 specialist and express fast bowler Tymal Mills from Yorkshire going for almost $2.35 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Stokes was outstanding across formats throughout the tour of India, which ended last month.
The highest fee in IPL history was Yuvraj Singh, who was bought for 16 crore (£1.9m) by Delhi Daredevils in 2015.
A total of 357 cricketers, including 130 from overseas, will go under the hammer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction to be held here on Monday.
“It’s a risk but we are ready to take it”.
But, let us look at the reasons that led to this.
Despite being removed as captain, the source said Dhoni would still be part of the RPS leadership group this year. Mumbai captain Aditya Tare goes to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 25 lakh.
England fast bowler Chris Jordan with a base price of Rs. 50 lakh also goes unsold. Every time I interact with Dhoni, my regard for him increases.
The other major purchases were all pace bowlers.
Johnson, who took 13 wickets at an average of 15.5 in his return this summer, was picked up by the Mumbai Indians at his base price of about A$389,000. The IPL tournament will begin on April 5.
Bravo now has a disciplinary matter pending with the West Indies Cricket Board and it is not clear whether this could affect his obtaining a No Objection Certificate if he gets the nod from one of the IPL franchises. RCB with Rs 11.55 crore and Rs 12.82 crore have the least budget.
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Khejroliya and Natarajan have appeared for trials at multiple franchises and Thampi bowls at 140 clicks regularly with an ability to hit the blockhole during death overs. Dhoni has been the captain of all the nine seasons of IPL since the tournament began in 2008.
