IPL auction: Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy get highest bids

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], Dec 18 (ANI): Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy were the most expensive players at the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held here on Tuesday.
Unadkat, who was the most expensive Indian cricketer last year at Rs 11.5 crore, entered with Rs. 1.50 crore. In a bidding war between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings entered the fray with Rs 5 crore. As Rajasthan took the auction to Rs 6.60 crore, Kings XI Punjab led the bid to Rs 7 crore. With Chennai opting out of the chain, Rajasthan bought Unadkat for a whopping Rs 8.40 crore, making pacer the most expensive player in the auction so far.
Equalising with Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy, with a base price of Rs 20 lakhs, got plenty of bidders. However, Punjab raced ahead of Chennai, Delhi, Rajasthan and Kolkata Knight Riders, and bought the Tamil Nadu mystery spinner for Rs 8.40 crore.
After a round of no bids, Delhi and Royal Challengers Bangalore showed interest in England's Sam Curran. Joining the chain, Punjab entered in at Rs 5.20 crore. Curran, who entered with a base price of Rs 2 crore, was sold to Punjab for Rs 7.20 crore, becoming the second most expensive player at the auction.
Other players bought by Punjab include, Mohammad Shami (Rs 4.80 crore), Sarfaraz Khan (Rs 25 lakh), Australia's Moises Henriques (Rs 1 crore), Nicholas Pooran of West Indies (Rs 4.20 crores).
A Twenty-20 specialist, South Africa batsman Colin Ingram joined the league of expensive players and settled at the third position as Delhi bought the wicketkeeper-batsman for Rs 6.40 crore. After joining the Delhi Capitals, Ingram tweeted: "What an exciting moment to go through the @IPL auction again. Awesome to be joining @DelhiCapitals and can't wait to be part of the buzz and excitement of cricket in India again. #IPL2019 #DontDieWondering."
Delhi also bought Axar Patel for Rs 5 crore and Hanuma Vihari for Rs 2 crore respectively. Other players added to the side includes, Ishant Sharma (Rs 1.10 crore), Ankush Bains (Rs 20 lakh) and Nathu Singh (Rs 20 lakh).
Carlos Brathwaite of West Indies, who entered with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, was the fourth most expensive player as Kolkata took the valuation for Barbados player to Rs 5 crore. Other players bought by Kolkata include New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson (Rs 1.60 crore).
Shivam Dube, with a base price of Rs 20 lakh, invited a bidding war by Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab and Bangalore. Mumbai took the bid to Rs 1.20 crore, while Bangalore led at Rs 3.40 crore. With Punjab joining in at Rs 4 crore, Bangalore sealed the deal for Rs 5 crore.
Meanwhile, right-arm medium bowler Mohit Sharma, who came in at Rs 50 lakh, was sold to Chennai for Rs 5 crore after the franchise raced ahead of Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai.
West Indian Shimron Hetmyer reaped benefits from his exceptional performance in the ODI series against India. The 21-year-old, who had not played IPL in the past, entered the auction with the base price of Rs 50 lakh. Of the bidders Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Hyderabad, Bangalore bought the left-hander for Rs 4.20 crore.
From the set of uncapped players, Bangalore added Devdutt Padikkal for his base price of Rs 20 lakh. Other players bought by Bangalore include Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 50 lakh), Devdutt Padikkal (Rs 20 lakh) and South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen (Rs 50 lakh). Meanwhile, right-arm fast bowler Varon Aaron, who went unsold in last season, invited the auction war between Delhi and Rajasthan at Rs 50 lakh. But the latter sealed the deal on Rs 2.40 crore.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga was sold out to his former team Mumbai Indians at a base price of Rs 2 crore. After an auction war between Mumbai and Punjab, Punjab batsman Anmolpreet Singh, who entered with the base price of Rs 20 lakh, was snapped up by Mumbai for Rs 80 lakh. Other players bought by Mumbai includes, Barinder Sran (Rs 3.40 crore) and Yuvraj Singh (Rs 1 crore).
As Hyderabad entered with Rs 1.50 crore for English wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, Punjab joined the fray with Rs 1.60 crore. Hyderabad with a rise to Rs 2.20 crore bought Bairstow. While Wriddhiman Saha, who remained out of action after sustaining an injury, was bought for Rs 1.20 crore by Hyderabad.
Indian players including, Cheteshwar Pujara, Naman Ojha, Manan Vohra, Sachin Baby, Ankeet Bawne, Ayush Badoni, Jalaj Saxena, Sheldon Jackson, Baba Indrajith, Anuj Rawat, KS Bharat, KB Arun Karthik, Aniket Choudhary, Ishan Porel, Rajneesh Gurbani, Chama Milind, Tushar Deshpande, Suchith, Yuvraj Chadusama, Zahir Khan, KC Cariappa, R Sai Kishore, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and Murugan Ashwin remained unsold so far.
Of the overseas players, Adam Zampa, Fawad Ahmed, Usman Khawaja, Kane Richardson and Shaun Marsh of Australia, Alex Hales and Chris Jordan of England, Brendon McCullum, Glenn Phillips, Luke Ronchi and Corey Anderson New Zealand, Khary Pierre and Jason Holder of West Indies, Reeza Hendricks, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla of South Africa, Hazratullah Zazai of Afghanistan, Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh and Kusal Perera of Sri Lanka remained unsold so far.
Around 1,003 players had initially registered for the auction but 351 players are going under the hammer based on the submission by the eight franchises. (ANI)