IPL 2018 Auction, Day 1: Top 5 expensive Indian players

It was an off-day for some of the experienced Indian players, with the likes of Murali Vijay going unsold on the first day of the IPL 2018 Auctions. On the other hand, veterans such as Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were bagged at their respective base price of 2 crores by Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab respectively.

However, just before Harbhajan Singh popped up on the IPL Auctions, it was another offie who took home a whopping sum. After the initial bid from Chennai Super Kings for their main man, it was the Kings XI Punjab who went aggressively to get their possible skipper in the form of Ravi Ashwin.

It took a huge sum of 7.6 crores from KXIP to get Ashwin in their shed, while CSK decided to withdraw mid-way during the bidding war. However, it was during the capped Indian batsmen lot where the franchises decided to splurge a large amount of cash to seal the players that they need at the top of the batting order.

The Indian opener KL Rahul went for a bidding-frenzy between Mumbai Indians, KXIP and RCB before KXIP bagged their main man for a sum of 11 crore rupees which was joint highest for an Indian player.

Manish Pandey made merry too

Similarly, Karnataka’s Manish Pandey too went for a huge sum as Chennai Super Kings opened the bid to get the Indian star. However, after the price increased over 5 crores and above, CSK withdrew their interest and thereon it was the Sunrisers Hyderabad who looked ever-so-aggressive in getting the IPL veteran in their arsenal. Sunrisers got their man for 11 crores, as Indian batsmen made merry.

Later in the day, wicketkeeper Sanju Samson got the franchises into a bidding war, with Rajasthan eventually managing to get a hold on to their former player for a huge sum of 8 crores. Krunal Pandya’s name popped some interest from the franchises, who were aware that the Mumbai Indians would swoop in for the all-rounder with their RTM card.

Despite knowing that, Delhi Daredevils and RCB went in for the all-rounder to get his services before Mumbai Indians used their RTM card to get their man at 8.80 crores. A merry day for the capped and the uncapped Indian players as the sides look to get their core group formidable.

Five expensive Indian picks on Day 1

Manish Pandey – SRH – 11 crore
KL Rahul – KXIP – 11 crore
Krunal Pandya – MI – 8.8 crore
Sanju Samson – RR – 8 crore
Ravichandran Ashwin – KXIP – 7.6 crore