Out of favour India batsman Yuvraj Singh went unsold, medium-pacer Jaydev Unadkat became a millionaire again with a Rs 8.4 crore bid but the spotlight was firmly on West Indian swashbucklers at the IPL players’ auction here on Tuesday.Unadkat was the costliest at the auction so far, going to Rajasthan Royals, who had bout him for Rs 11.5 crore earlier this year but released him at the end of the season.Capped Indian players were in demand and so were the West Indians before a 15-minute tea break at the auction.Unadkat was the sole millionaire so far with the Royals lapping him up him after a bidding battle with KXI, CSK and Delhi Capitals.
However, there were no takers for 37-year-old Yuvraj, who was a sought after player in the IPL for a long time and during his prime, attracted a Rs 16 crore bid. He entered into the auction with a base price of Rs one crore and could still find a buyer later in the auction if he is among the unsold players brought back into the pool by the franchises.Yuvraj going unsold was not particularly surprising as he endured a lean run in the 2018 edition after KXIP bought him at a base price of Rs two crore before releasing him in November.Besides the capped Indians, the West Indians too were in demand with Shimron Hetmyer, Carlos Brathwaite and Nicholas Pooran bagging hefty deals in the first round of bidding.
Spinner Axar Patel (Rs five crore), pacer Mohit Sharma (Rs five crore) and Mohammad Shami (Rs 4.8 crore) were the other names to fetch big bids. Patel, who made his name at KXIP, was bought by Delhi Capitals after a bidding battle with the Punjab franchise. Shami, who turned up for Delhi last season, was sold to KXIP while Mohit went back to Chennai Super Kings after a stint with KXIP.Royal Challengers Bangalore paid Rs 4.2 crore for Hetmyer. Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals also bid for the stylish West Indian batsman, who had a base price of Rs 50 lakh.
His teammate Brathwaite, the star of 2016 World T20, was sold to KKR for Rs five crore after a bidding war between the Dinesh Karthik-led side and Kings XI Punjab.The all-rounder had entered the auction with a base price of Rs 75. Another West Indian to get an attractive deal was wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran. The 23-year-old, who came with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, went for Rs 4.20 crore to KXIP. He is a T20 find and is yet to play Test cricket. Indian Test player Hanuma Vihari was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs two crore, four times his base price. Pacer Ishant Sharma, who had a base price of Rs 75 lakh, went to Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.1 crore while wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was bought back by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 1.2 crore. The high-profile unsold players were Cheteshwar Pujara, Brendon McCullum and Chris Woakes.
