IPL auction: Avesh Khan becomes most-expensive uncapped player

Bengaluru: Uncapped India pacer Avesh Khan joined the ten-crore club in the ongoing IPL auction on Saturday. Khan, who was phenomenal for Delhi in the 2021 season, got bids straightaway from Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants. When Chennai backed out, Mumbai Indians entered the fray and was in an intense battle with Lucknow.

Though Delhi Capitals and Hyderabad Sunrisers stepped in, Lucknow Super Giants remained rock-solid to buy him for INR 10 crore. The move meant Khan became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of IPL auctions, overtaking Krishnappa Gowtham who was paid INR 9.25 crore by Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

There was a huge interest for Tamil Nadu’s left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore from Chennai, Delhi, Punjab Kings and Lucknow. Punjab and Gujarat Titans were in an intense battle before Hyderabad came in and eventually bought him for INR 3 crore.

Delhi Capitals bought KS Bharat for INR 2.20 crore, as a back-up to Rishabh Pant. Anuj Rawat, part of Rajasthan Royals last year, gained interest from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Hyderabad and Gujarat. But Bangalore stayed firm and snapped him for INR 3.40 crore. Punjab re-acquired keeper-batters Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma for INR 60L and 20L respectively while Saur’shtra’s Sheldon Jackson was brought back by Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kerala pacer Basil Thampi was snapped by Mumbai Indians for INR 30L. Kartik Tyagi, the India U19 2020 batch member, attracted bids from Delhi, Chennai and later Hyderabad. Mumbai also came into contention but Hyderabad bagged his bid for INR 4 crore. Bengal pacer Ishan Porel was brought back by Punjab for INR 25L while Ankit Singh Rajpoot was picked by Lucknow for INR 50L. Bangalore and Chennai acquired Bengal pacer Akash Deep an’ Kerala’s KM Asif for INR 20L.

Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmed, who featured in the U19 World Cup, BBL, PSL and LPL, was picked by Gujarat for INR 30L. Tamil Nadu leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin was brought by Mumbai for INR 1.6 crore. Rajasthan picked leg-spinner KC Cariappa for INR 30L while Hyderabad acquired services of Shreyas Gopal for INR 75L and brought back Jagadeesha Suchith on the base price of INR 20L.

Unsold players in the round included keeper-batters Vishnu Vinod, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Vishnu Solanki, N Jagadeesan, spinners M Siddharth and Sandeep Lamichhane.