2018 IPL Auctions: Winners and Losers

Day 1 of the 2018 IPL auctions has wrapped up and each franchise’s lineup is looking much clearer. Some signings were a no-brainer, while others were interesting choices. A few other names in the list went unsold. The auction always has a tendency towards the obvious and the unpredictable. This year was no different as some players found themselves in teams where fans wouldn’t normally associate them with. So without further ado, here are the winners and losers of the 2018 IPL auctions.

Winners of the 2018 IPL Auctions

Indian batsman KL Rahul fetched an astounding Rs 11 crore from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Rahul’s base price was just Rs 2 crore, but he has established himself as a lethal addition in the Indian middle order, and franchises engaged in a bidding war to acquire his services. In the end, it was the King XI Punjab who prevailed.

Like Rahul before him, Pandey too was sold for Rs 11 crore. However, his destination was the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp. The 28-year old is also a decent middle order batsman and has been known to play big knocks.

Nair made his international debut in 2016 with a triple hundred in Tests. He too was another big gainer at the auction. He fetched a bid of Rs 5.6 crore from KXIP on a base price of Rs 50 lakh.

Getting into some international flavour, Ben Stokes was the most expensive overseas purchase. However, he still went for a lower price than last season (Rs 14.5 crore from Rising Pune Supergiants). Stokes was sold for 12.5 crores to Rajasthan Royals.

The Mumbai Indians retained Krunal for 8.8 crores from a base price of 40 lakh. He also became the costliest uncapped player in IPL history. Krunal and younger brother Hardik, wreaked havoc for Mumbai’s opponents in last year’s IPL.

Losers

On the outside, this seems like a surprising move, considering that the West Indian’s explosive gameplay. However, one must also consider his dropping form and the age factor.

Like Gayle, Malinga too went unsold on Day 1 of the auction. Given that he had been quite effective as a bowler for the Mumbai Indians, it was strange that they did not use their RTMs. However, just like in Gayle’s case, Malinga’s form has dropped and age is also catching up.

This was a surprising exclusion given that he was slated to be one of the biggest attractions. Root had actually skipped last year’s IPL for personal reasons and was included in the roster for the auction.

The South African opener was another surprise entry on our list. Amla’s base price was Rs 1.5 crores and was brought in for the injured Shaun Marsh. Of the 10 matches he played, he scored 420 runs, including two centuries and two half-centuries.

Guptill’s base price was fixed at Rs 75 lakh, however, he was not picked up by any franchise for the upcoming season of the IPL. Last year, the Kiwi notched up 189 runs in a total of 10 matches, while his highest score was an unbeaten 50.