From Frugal CSK to Big Spenders LSG – Seven Takeaways from IPL Auction 2022

204 players were sold and INR 5,51,70,00,000 was splurged amongst the ten franchises during the two-day Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Auction in Bengaluru. Young Indian cricketers dominated the proceedings at the auction, with Ishan Kishan attracting the topmost bid of INR 15.25 Crore which saw him return to MI. Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar, who returned to CSK for INR 14 Crore, became the most expensive Indian pace bowler to be ever bought at the IPL Auction.

KKR broke the bank for Shreyas Iyer and bought the stylish right-handed batter for INR 12.25 Crore. Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasaranga, Nicholas Pooran, Shardul Thakur and Lockie Ferguson also made merry at the Auction while Avesh Khan became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of the IPL, with INR 10 Crore against his name, courtesy the new IPL entrant LSG.

Here are  7 takeaways from IPL Auction 2022: 

1. CSK only team to buy full quota of 25 players, including 8 overseas players, and save Rs2.95 crore – Chennai Super Kings bought 15 players, after the six players on Saturday, on Day 2 of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Shivam Dube was the most expensive buy with Rs 4 crore for CSK on the second and last day of the auctions. From the first day, barring just one player, the remaining five all represented them last season with bowler Tushar Deshpande being the fresh addition. They went all out for allrounder Deepak Chahar who was purchased for an astronomical Rs 14 crore after a fierce bidding war. They have spent Rs 69.55 crore from their available Rs 90 crore in retaining and buying 21 players in total. They left Rs 2.95 crore at the end of the auction with all 25 slots filled.
2. LSG only team to exhaust full quota of money. New team bought 21 players, including 7 overseas players, least number by any of the 10 franchises – IPL debutant Lucknow Super Giants exhausted their budget at the IPL 2022 mega auction held across two days and bought 18 players during the event. They had drafted Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill before the auctions and have now built a squad comprising 21 players. They went all out for Avesh who turned out to be their costliest buy across the two days as they placed a successful bid of Rs 10 crore to land the uncapped fast bowler on Saturday. They Rs 83.1 crore from their budget of 90 crore in drafting and buying 11 players including eight on day 1 itself and added 10 more on Sunday.
3. 4 teams – PBKS, CSK, KKR and MI – bought full quota of 25 players – South Africa fast bowler Rabada was their costliest buy on Day 1 for whom they shelled out Rs 9.25 crore. However, Liam Livingstone trumped him on Sunday as PBKS broke the bank by spending Rs 11.5 crore, making him the second most expensive Englishman in IPL history. Mumbai Indians, the record five-time IPL champions, made huge buys by bringing in Tim David for Rs 8.25 crore and Jofra Archer for Rs 8 crore on the second day of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Shred purchases in the form of Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Sams and Tymal Mills and that too in budget prices, may keep them in good stead for the playing XI. They bought just four players including Ishan Kishan and Dewald Brevis on Day 1. However, they did hit the headlines by making Kishan the second most expensive Indian buy in the history of IPL auction by splurging a stunning 15.25 crore on the fast-rising wicketkeeper-batter.
4. From their budget of Rs 90 crore, KKR just had 45 lakh left with all 25 slots filled – Kolkata Knight Riders were fortunate, and sometimes forced, to make some shrewd budget buys on Day 2 of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Two-time IPL champions KKR got the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Nabi, Tim Southee, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Chamila Karunaratne and Ajinkya Rahane for their base price. They had bought five players on the first day, bringing back the likes of Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana among others. However, their costliest purchase on Day 1 was the highly-rated middle-order batter and a strong captaincy candidate Shreyas Iyer, that too for Rs 12.25 crore.
5. 7 teams – CSK, RCB, RR, KKR, GT, MI and SRH – bought full quota of 8 overseas players – A total of 67 overseas players were sold across two days at the IPL 2022 Auction with seven teams managing to complete all of their 8 overseas players’ quota: CSK, RCB, RR, KKR, GT, MI and SRH. For PBKS, Livingstone was their costliest overseas buy at Rs 11.25 crore, RCB and SRH spent Rs 10.75 crore for Wanindu Hasaranga and Nicolas Pooran, respectively. For Gujarat Titans, Lockie Ferguson was their biggest overseas buy at Rs 10 crore while Lucknow Super Giants shelled out Rs 8.75 crore for Jason Holder. Rajasthan Royals’ most expensive overseas buy was Shimron Hetmyer at Rs 8.50 crore and Mumbai Indians’ costliest foreigner was the Singaporean big-hitter Tim David at Rs 8.25 crore. CSK took back Dwayne Bravo at Rs 4.40 crore while Delhi picked Mitchell Marsh for Rs 6.5 crore. KKR’s most expensive overseas buy was last auction top bid, Pat Cummins at Rs 7.25 crore
6. 57 Indians became crorepatis and 51 overseas players joined the club. In total, 108 players earned Rs1 crore or more – A total of 108 players landed deals equaling or greater than Rs 1 crore. GT splurged 1 crore or more on 14 players, RR and SRH on 12 each, CSK and DC on 11 each, MI, PBKS, KKR on 10 each while RCB were frugal in this regard spending 1 crore or more on the least – 9 players.
7. 7 Indian players – Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan – earned Rs10 crore or more – 7 Indian players were in the 10 crore club and evidently the top 11 most expensive buys (with a cap of 10 crore or more) at the auction is dominated by Indians (7), while only 4 overseas players earned 10 crore or more.

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