3 players who earned more than 20x their base price at IPL 2022 Auction
The IPL 2022 Auction was held last weekend in Bengaluru. Over 200 players earned contracts from the 10 franchises at the mega auction. Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar and Shreyas Iyer emerged as the most expensive buys, while Liam Livingstone was the most expensive overseas player.
Several big names like Suresh Raina, Sreesanth, Cheteshwar Pujara, Steve Smith, Eoin Morgan, Aaron Finch and others went unsold at the IPL 2022 Auction. None of the teams even submitted a bid worth the aforementioned players' base price at the mega auction.
However, three players earned more than 20 times their base price at the mega auction. Here's a list of the three names.
#1 Avesh Khan - 50 times
Avesh Khan shattered the record for the most expensive uncapped signing in IPL Auction history. Debutant Lucknow Super Giants broke the bank to acquire the services of Khan for a whopping ₹10 crore.
Khan came into the spotlight last year while playing for the Delhi Capitals. He was the team's most impressive bowler. Since DC released Khan ahead of the mega auction, fans expected an intense bidding war for the fast bowler.
He entered the mega auction with the lowest base price possible (₹20 lakh). The Chennai Super Kings were the first team to bid for him. The Lucknow Super Giants, the Mumbai Indians, the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Delhi Capitals joined the race to sign Avesh soon after. Ultimately, Lucknow signed him for ₹10 crore.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Avesh Khan disclosed that he could not watch the IPL 2022 Auction live, and when he found out his final price, he froze for five seconds.
“I was on the flight at that time and I had expected I would get at least 7 crore. But since I was on the flight and couldn’t watch the auction live, I was feeling a bit nervous thinking which team would pick me and for how much. Upon landing when I got to know that Lucknow bought me for 10 crore, I froze for five seconds," said Khan.
#2 Rahul Tewatia - 22.5 times
Another uncapped Indian player who earned big at the mega auction was Rahul Tewatia. He set a base price of ₹40 lakh and returned with a deal worth ₹9 crore from the Gujarat Titans.
Tewatia, who wowed everyone with his all-round brilliance for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020, will be keen to justify his enormous price tag in IPL 2022. He was Gujarat's most expensive Indian signing at the IPL 2022 Auction.
#3 Shahrukh Khan - 22.5 times
Shahrukh Khan made a name for himself with his big-hitting in domestic cricket. The Punjab Kings signed him for ₹5.25 crore last year but did not retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 Auction.
Khan entered the mega auction with a base price of ₹40 lakh. Punjab beat the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders in a bidding war to sign Khan for a whopping ₹9 crore, which is almost 23 times his base price.