IPL: 5 players bought for more than 10 crore INR who didn't justify their price tag
The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is one of the most anticipated events on every year's cricketing calendar. The thrilling system has seen players sold for staggering prices of over 10 crore INR, and has given birth to many heartwarming rags-to-riches stories.
However, with such a large price tag come massive expectations and most cricketers struggle to live up to their 'auction value'. Among the players who have fetched over 10 crores, very few have backed up the amount with performances - Gautam Gambhir, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja are among those who have.
In this article, we take a look at 5 players who fetched over 10 crores in the auction but didn't manage to justify their price tag.
Note: All prices mentioned in this article are in INR.
#5 Dinesh Karthik (IPL 2014, IPL 2015)
In the 2014 IPL auction, Dinesh Karthik was snapped up by the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) for 12.5 crores.
The wicket-keeper scored only 325 runs in the season at an average of 23.21, with his strike rate of 125.96 also on the lower side. His team finished dead last on the IPL table, registering only 2 wins over the course of the competition.
Karthik was then bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the next edition of the IPL, for another massive price tag of 10.5 crores.
Again, the middle-order batsman disappointed, with only 141 runs in 16 games at an abysmal average of 12.81, without a single fifty to his name. However, his team fared much better this time around, with RCB finishing third at the end of the league phase.
Karthik has been excellent in the IPL since and has ably led the Kolkata Knight Riders.