Top 10 most expensive Indian buys in IPL Auction 2017

02/20/2017

39 Indian players were sold in the auction for the IPL 2017, the 10th edition that saw Karn Sharma signed for Rs. 3.2 crore by Mumbai Indians while Tamil Nadu pacer T Natarajan was bought for Rs. 3 crore by Kings XI Punjab. Here is the list of 10 of the most expensive Indian buys in this auction.

Out of the 66 players who were sold in the auction today, 39 were Indians. Not too many top-class Indian players were available in the auction, which meant that they did not fetch as much money as they do normally. Having said that, some of the Indian players ended up with surprisingly big price tags while experienced players like RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, and Irfan Pathan remained unsold.

10. Eklavya Dwivedi – Rs. 75 lakhs – Sunrisers Hyderabad

The wicketkeeper-batsman played for Gujarat Lions last season after his former team Chennai Super Kings were banned. The 28-year-old does not boast of a good record in domestic cricket and in the recently concluded Inter State Twenty-20 tournament, Eklavya, who played as an opener in T20s for Uttar Pradesh, scored a modest 96 runs in four innings.

9. Basil Thampi – Rs. 85 lakhs – Gujarat Lions

The 23-year-old is a right-arm medium pacer who plays for Kerala, and this will be his debut season in the IPL. He featured for South Zone in the Syed Mushtaq Ali but was not able to make his mark over there. He is relatively inexperienced in domestic cricket with only 11 first class appearances to his name, where he has picked up 18 wickets for Kerala.

8. Pawan Negi – Rs. 1 crore – Royal Challengers Bangalore

Last year, Delhi Daredevils signed the all-rounder for Rs. 8.5 crore, however, he failed to live up to that price tag. This time, RCB have signed him for Rs. 1 crore, and the 24-year-old is unlikely to relish playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, that has become a burial ground for the bowlers over the years.

7. Murugan Ashwin – Rs. 1 crore – Delhi Daredevils

The mystery spinner – how the 26-year-old leg spinner continues to attract such prices remains a mystery. Last year, Rising Pune Supergiants signed him for 4.5 crores, which was 45 times his original base price of 10 lakhs. This time, it was 10 times of his base price. This for a bowler who averaged 34.42 and had an economy rate of 8.45 last season in 10 appearances.

6. Aniket Choudhary – Rs. 2 crore – Royal Challengers Bangalore

The left-arm pacer's only previous stint in the IPL was with the Kings XI Punjab in 2013. The 27-year-old has made 39 first-class appearances for Rajasthan in domestic cricket where he has picked up 124 wickets. He has maintained his good wicket-taking record in domestic T20 cricket as well. Playing for Central Zone in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Aniket had picked up six wickets in four games.

5. Krishnappa Gowtham – Rs. 2 crore – Mumbai Indians

The off-spinner picked up 27 wickets in eight appearances for Karnataka this season in the Ranji Trophy. Gowtham had picked up two consecutive five-wicket hauls, against Delhi and Assam, helping his team win both the games. In the latter game, he returned his career-best figures of 7/108. This will be the debut for Gowtham in the IPL.

4. Mohammed Siraj – Rs. 2.6 crore – Sunrisers Hyderabad

The 22-year-old is one of the best upcoming young pacers in India’s domestic cricket at the moment. The right-arm pacer was the third-highest wicket taker in Ranji this season with 41 scalps in nine appearances for Hyderabad. He is an exciting addition for Sunrisers and is likely to prove to be the best buy in this list.

3. Varun Aaron – Rs. 2.8 crore – Kings XI Punjab

The 27-year-old has struggled a lot with his fitness in recent times and will be eager to prove his worth once again in the IPL. The pacer's last appearance for India was in the Test against South Africa in Bengaluru in 2015. Recently, he has featured in the domestic T20 competition for Jharkhand, picking up eight wickets in four appearances.

2. T Natarajan – Rs. 3 crore – Kings XI Punjab

Till the age of 20, Natarajan had only played tennis ball cricket. In fact, he did not represent his school or college teams as well. However, the 25-year-old has made a name for himself in the Tamil Nadu Premier League with Dindigul Dragons as a death-bowling expert. The price tag that Kings XI Punjab has placed on him is likely to place the left-arm pacer under a lot of pressure, though.

1. Karn Sharma – Rs. 3.2 crore – Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians will be his third IPL franchise after he was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this year. The all-rounder made only five appearances for the IPL champions last season, and he bowled with an economy rate of 10.46. He has performed decently for the Railways in this season of the Ranji Trophy, though, picking up 31 wickets in eight games. It will be interesting to see if he is able to justify that big price tag this time around.