Bangalore: Little-known Railways all-rounder Karn Sharma hit the jackpot at the IPL players’ auction, becoming the costliest buy among the uncapped players by fetching a startling Rs 3.75 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, while Rishi Dhawan fetched Rs 3 crore from Kings XI Punjab here.
On a low-key second day of the auction, former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor, who had surprisingly gone unsold on the opening day, finally found a buyer as Delhi Daredevils snapped him for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
However, stalwarts like former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, West Indian all-rounder Marlon Samuels, Australian all-rounders Cameron White and David Hussey, and New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill were once again snubbed by the franchises after being unsold on Wednesday.
If Yuvraj Singh’s 14-crore deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore stunned many, some of the bidding for uncapped players, included in the auction for the first time to prevent under-hand deals, was mind-boggling.
Among the big gainers was Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav who clinched a two-crore contract with Delhi Daredevils, a huge reward for his smashing form in the Ranji Trophy.
Jadhav was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore development squad to start with before being signed by Delhi Daredevils in 2010.
The 26-year-old Karn, named the Under-25 Indian Player of the Year last year, pipped better-known names such as Indian Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand (Rs 65 lakh, Rajasthan Royals) to grab the biggest deal of the morning session.
The leg-spinning all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh had turned up for the same franchise last season as well, taking 11 wickets at a decent economy rate of 6.60.
Ranji Trophy’s top wicket-taker this season, Rishi Dhawan (base price of Rs 20 lakh) was signed for Rs 3 crore by Kings XI Punjab via the ‘Right to Match’ provision after being initially acquired by Sunrisers.
Dhawan is primarily a fast-bowling all-rounder who bats in the middle-order. The 23-year-old played for Kings XI Punjab in the 2008 IPL and was signed by the Mumbai Indians last season.
The other big winners were Rajat Bhatia (Rs 1.70 crore, Rajasthan), Manish Pandey (Rs 1.70 crore Kolkata), Aditya Tare (Rs 1.60 crore, Mumbai), KL Rahul (Rs 1 crore, Sunrisers), Ishwar Pandey (Rs 1.50 crore, Chennai), Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 1.30 crore, Kings XI), Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs 1.10 crore, Rajasthan) and Parveez Rasool (Rs 95 lakh, Sunrisers).
All-rounder Mandeep Singh, former vice-captain of the Indian Under-19 team, was grabbed for Rs 80 lakh by Kings XI Punjab through the ‘Right to Match’ provision.
Among the foreigners, most of whom went unsold, it was South African pacer Beuran Hendricks, who triggered a bidding competition among the franchises. In the pool at a base price of Rs 30 lakh, Hendricks was bought for Rs 1.80 crore by Kings XI. (PTI)