Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green and Rs 18 crore to acquire the services of Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana in the Indian Premier League players’ auction here Tuesday.
Uncapped Indian players were also a big hit with Uttar Pradesh’s 20-year-old left-arm spinner Prashant Veer going to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 14.20 crore. He became the highest-paid uncapped player in the history of IPL auction after coming in at a base price of Rs 30 lakh.
Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi Dar also attracted a hefty sum of Rs 8.40 crore from Delhi Capitals to be among the top gainers in the mini auction. Dar’s base price was also Rs 30 lakh.
Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, however, went unsold in the auction despite their good run of form with the bat.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who got the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
The three-time champions then entered the fray to buy Pathirana after Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants withdrew following an intense bidding war between the two franchises.
Entering the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore, Pathirana became the most expensive Sri Lankan sold in an IPL auction.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI’s player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players. Pathirana will get the full amount as it falls within the salary cap.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
Spencer Johnson remained unsold, while Anrich Nortje, who came with a base price of Rs 2 crore, was enlisted by LSG, who opened the bidding for the South Africa pacer.
A total of 359 players — 246 Indians and 113 overseas players — are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
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