Indian Premier League 2018 Player Auction: Squads, money spent, cricketers sold, RTMs
The India U-19 cricketers currently taking part in the ICC World Cup in New Zealand were hot picks as franchises invested in the youth.
Bengaluru: The two-day auction of the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded in Bengaluru with 169 players filling up the 182 available slots.
Read: Indian Premier League 2018 Player Auction: As it happened
Up to 113 Indian cricketers were bought by the eight franchises, which will battle it out for the trophy from April 7 onwards.
Last season, Afghanistan players made their debut and this time, IPL has a new addition with Sandeep Lamichhane becoming the first cricketer from Nepal to join the world's best T20 league.
With 56 overseas players, the 11th season will see representations from nine different nations.
While England all-rounder Ben Stokes set the tone for the auction with a massive winning bid of Rs 12.5 crore on Day 1, Mujeeb Zadran, the 16-year-old Afghan boy attracted attention on Day 2 as not only did he become the youngest-ever cricketer to enter IPL Auction, but fetched a massive bid of Rs 4 crore.
Read: Rashid Khan headlines Afghanistan's rise
The India U-19 cricketers currently taking part in the ICC World Cup in New Zealand were hot picks as franchises invested in the youth. Fast bowlers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi were lapped up by KKR and both received bids in excess of Rs 3 crore.
Read: IPL 2018 Auction: India U19 star Kamlesh Nagarkoti sat in washroom during KKR bidding
Openers Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill were picked by Delhi Daredevils and duo fetched in excess of Rs 1 crore.
Read: IPL 2018 auction: 5 Under-19 players who turned million-dollar babies
"The eight franchises had come well prepared at the auction. They had data, analytics and multiple combinations in mind as they went about picking their players. I am particularly delighted to see the faith they have shown in budding Indian cricketers and also uncapped players from overseas. A youngster can grow massively when he is looked after by the world-class coaching and support staff that the teams have at their disposal," said Rajiv Shukla, Chairman, IPL.
Key figures from the VIVO IPL 2018 Auction:
Total players sold - 169
Total Indian players - 113
Total overseas players 56
Top overseas buy - Benjamin Stokes (RR) - Rs. 12.5 cr
Top Indian buy - Jaydev Unadkat (RR) - Rs. 11.5 cr
Top uncapped Indian buy - Krunal Pandya - Rs. 8.80 cr
Right to Match (RTM) cards used - 19
The country-wise breakup of players to take part in the upcoming season is as below:
India-113
Afghanistan-4
Australia-17
Bangladesh-2
England-8
Nepal-1
New Zealand-7
South Africa-8
Sri Lanka-2
West Indies-7
The team-wise breakup of players picked, and purse spent is as below:
Chennai Super Kings (25) Rs. 73.5 cr
Delhi Daredevils (25) Rs. 78.4 cr
Kings XI Punjab (21) Rs. 79.90 cr
Kolkata Knight Riders (19) Rs. 80 cr
Mumbai Indians (25) Rs. 79.35 cr
Rajasthan Royals (23) Rs. 78.35 cr
Royal Challengers Bangalore (24) Rs. 79.85 cr
Sunrisers Hyderabad (25) Rs. 79.35
How the squads shape up after auction:
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Chennai Super Kings had retained the core of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja during the player retention event. Here are the players whom they bought at the auction.
Delhi Daredevils (DD)
They had retained Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris and Shreyas Iyer before the auction and bought the following cricketers during the auction.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
Preity Zinta co-owned KXIP side had only retained Axar Patel before the auction and they went berserk to buy the following cricketers during the two-day IPL 2018 auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Shah Rukh Khan co-owned side had retained the West Indian duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell before the auction and ended up shelling out the entire amount of Rs 59 crore during the IPL 2018 auction to buy the following cricketers.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
The defending champions and three-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians had retained Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah and bought the following cricketers during the IPL 2018 Auction in Bengaluru.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Rajasthan Royals, who had retained Steve Smith before the auction, went on an absolute rampage of spending big during the auction. Here are the cricketers that they bought.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
They had retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and uncapped Sarfaraz Khan before the auction and managed to but the following cricketers during the IPL 2018 auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The 2016 IPL Champions had retained David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar before the auction and bought the following cricketers during the auction.