The IPL 2021 player auction saw 57 players being bought by 8 franchises. 35 Indian and 22 Overseas players made up the list. Several high-profile signings made a lot of buzz. Teams broke the bank for few players. Rajasthan Royals bagged Chris Morris for a record deal of INR 16.25 crores. There were plenty of players who earned multifold as compared to their base price.
StumpsandBails brings out 5 such big gainers of the IPL 2021 Player Auction:
#5 Riley Meredith (20x Times)
Australian uncapped pacer, Riley Meredith had set his base price to INR 40 lakhs. He had a fantastic Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 wherein he intimidated batsmen with his raw pace. The IPL teams were aware of his strengths. Punjab Kings went all the way for Meredith. They finally bought him for a whopping INR 8 crores.
#4 Kyle Jamieson (20x Times)
Kyle Jamieson had impressed one and all with his cricketing smarts in the series against India last year. Jamieson was not just effective with the ball but he proved to quite a handful with the bat too. His all-round ability was sure to fetch him a good number in the auction. But the way it saw a 20 fold jump from his base price of INR 75 lakhs to INR 15 crores was mind-boggling. The Royal Challengers Bangalore sure have taken a big leap here.
#3 Chris Morris (21.66x Times)
Chris Morris had set his base price to INR 75 lakhs. He was coming off a decent IPL 2020 and hence it came as a surprise that he was released by RCB ahead of the auctions. Morris was sought by 4 IPL franchises. Even RCB were in the running for him up till INR 9.75 crores (as they had paid INR 10 crores for him last time). Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, and Rajasthan Royals were in the race to acquire him. But it was the Royals who ultimately won the battle. They bought him for INR 16.25 crores.
#2 Shahrukh Khan (26.25 Times)
Shahrukh Khan was expected to fetch a good number in the auctions. His finishing exploits had already garnered a lot of attention. He had set a base price of INR 20 lakhs. Punjab Kings won the bidding game staving off competition from Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Punjab team bagged him for INR 5.25 crores (26.25 times his base price).
#1 Krishnappa Gowtham (46.25 Times)
Krishnappa Gowtham became the highest paid uncapped player in the history of IPL. Chennai Super Kings bought him for INR 9.25 crores. This meant a jump of 46.25 times his base price of INR 20 lakhs. Even Gowtham wouldn’t have imagined such a steep rise in fortunes. He was easily the biggest gainer of the auction night.
