Rishabh Pant shattered Shreyas Iyer’s record to become the costliest cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Pant was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for a mammoth amount of Rs 27 Crore. There was a massive bidding war between LSG and Sunrisers Hyderabad for the Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batter but it was the Lucknow Super Giants who won the bidding at Rs 20.75 Crore. However, after Delhi Capitals decided to use their Right To Match (RTM) card, LSG came up with a final bid of Rs 27 crore which proved to be the winning bid. Earlier in the auction, Shreyas Iyer was sold to Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 Crore.
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The amount LSG spent for Pant ensured Shreyas Iyer’s record of being the tournament’s costliest player lasted barely a few minutes after Punjab Kings broke the bank to buy the India batter for Rs 26.75 crore.
Moments before Pant emerged as the most expensive player, Iyer surpassed the record held by Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore in the last auction.
Pant went to LSG after his former franchise Delhi Capitals did not use the Right to Match card to buy him back.
Starc got a much lower price this time and was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore, while England’s Jos Buttler went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore.
Among others, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh’s consistency earned him a massive bid of Rs 18 crore, also from Punjab Kings via the Right to Match card, while South African speedster Kagiso Rabada was bought for Rs 10.75 crore by Gujarat Titans.
Iyer, the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain, started with a base price of Rs two crore.
Delhi Capitals had the bid at Rs 26 crore for him but PBKS raised the amount to get the player.
Chennai Super Kings started with the first bid for Arshdeep, whose base price was also Rs two crore.
Eventually, after an intense bidding war, the seamer was bought back by Punjab, who exercised the right to match option to complete the deal, having released him earlier.
This is the second time an IPL auction is being held outside the country after last year’s event in Dubai.
(With PTI inputs)
