IPL 2022: 5 Biggest gainers from the mega auction

The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 has been concluded after a two-day frenetic action in Bangalore. Ten teams including the two new franchises – Gujarat Lions and Lucknow Super Giants – splurged a total of INR 551,70,00,000 on 204 players in two action-packed days. Many bagged a huge deal while some big names went unsold in the auction. A total of 108 players or more fetched a deal of over INR 1 crore.

The breakdown of the auction states that 137 Indians and 67 overseas cricketers were sold while 107 are capped and 97 are uncapped. Wicketkeepe- batter Ishan Kishan became the most expensive buy in the auction while England’s hard-hitter Liam Livingstone became the most expensive overseas purchase in the mega auction of the cash-rich league. After Yuvraj Singh who was bought for 16 crores by Delhi Capitals in 2015, Kishan is the second most-expensive Indian player in the history of IPL auction.

Many young guns fetched an amount way more than their actual base price as they are expected to play a big part in the upcoming IPL season. These players would like to live up to the expectations for the franchises that broke the bank for them on the auction table. The teams shelled out colossal figures to secure their services as the players got tremendous hikes after being bought by the team owners.

Players who got the biggest hikes in the mega IPL auction 2022:

5.Kartik Tyagi – 2000%

Kartik Tyagi was also bought by the SRH franchise for INR 4 crores. His base price was just INR 20 lakhs but saw his price skyrocket 20 times with a hike of 2000%. Tyagi was firstly purchased by Rajasthan Royals in the 2020 auction for INR 20 Lakhs.

The right-arm pacer made his debut against Mumbai Indians in the 2020 season. In 14 games so far, he has taken 13 wickets with a strike rate of 24.08 and with the best bowling figures of 2/29. In the last IPL, Tyagi defended four runs in the final over as he conceded just one run to win a thriller for RR against Punjab Kings and was also declared the Player of the Match.

He will be sharing the dressing room with some terrific fast bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and the retained Umran Malik in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp. Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings were also involved in a bidding war but it was SRH who acquired his services the right-arm pacer’s services.

4.Rahul Tripathi – 2125%

Rahul Tripathi, who played for KKR  in the last season, was purchased by SRH for a whopping INR 8.5 crores. His base price was just 40 Lakhs but it got higher 21.25 times with a hike of 2125%. Tripathi, who plays for Maharashtra in domestic cricket, became the third most expensive Indian player in the 2022 auction.

A proven IPL performer, Tripathi was KKR’s second-highest run-getter in last year’s IPL with 397 runs in 16 innings. His strike rate was 140.28 and average 28.35 with the highest score of 74*. He was used by KKR as a floater and was a vital cog in his side’s journey to the final of IPL.

Tripathi will be joining hands with classy Kiwi captain and batter Kane Williamson and also Aiden Markram to do the bulk of the scoring for the Hyderabad side. This will be the right-handed batter’s fourth franchise after previously playing for the defunct Rising Pune Supergiant side in 2017, for Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and 2019, and for Kolkata Knight Riders since 2020.

3.Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia – 2250% 

Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia jointly became the second-most expensive uncapped players in the mega auction of IPL 2022. The duo were snapped up by Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans respectively. Interestingly, both had a base price of INR 40 lakhs and went for the same price of INR 9 crores.

Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan returned to Punjab Kings after being part of the side in the 2021 edition. Punjab had retained Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh but they made sure they bring back their power-hitter in the side. New franchise Gujarat Titans bought the all-rounder Rahul Tewatia, who performed well for Rajasthan Royals in the last couple of seasons.

The duo’s price rose by 22.5 times and both snared a hike of 2250%. Tewatia has scored 521 runs in 34 IPL innings and has 32 scalps to his name. Shahrukh reminds Anil Kumble of Kieron Pollard as the power-hitter, who will be batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, and Liam Livingstone for his side in IPL 2022.

2.Abhishek Sharma – 3250%

The left-arm batter Abhishek Sharma was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad again for INR 6.5 crores in the mega auction. SRH didn’t retain him as the team decided to go for Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, and Umran Malik. Sharma was bought by Delhi Capitals in the 2018 auction and in that season he scored 46 runs off just 19 balls against RCB.

In 2019, DC traded him to SRH and since then he has been playing for the orange army. Sharma’s base price was just INR 20 Lakhs but saw his price rise by 32.5 times with a hike of 3250%. Abhishek has played a total of 22 matches in IPL scoring 241 runs with a healthy strike rate of 139.31.

The young 21-year-old Sharma is also a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and has seven wickets to his name in the IPL. SRH will bank on Abhishek along with other young guns like Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, and Nicholas Pooran to provide those crucial middle-order runs at a quicker rate.

1.Avesh Khan – 5000%

The second-highest wicket-taker of IPL 2021, Avesh Khan was bought by the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants for a staggering amount of INR 10 crores. His base price was just INR 20 lakhs but the new team went all out for him to pay 50 times more of his base price with a hike of 5000%. He became the most expensive uncapped player in IPL history.

Avesh finished second in the purple cap race last season with 24 wickets in 16 matches. The 25-year-old pacer wasn’t retained by Delhi Capitals as the team opted for Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and Anrich Nortje. Avesh was firstly bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2017 and then by Delhi Capitals who purchased him in the year 2018.

So far, the fast bowler has played 25 IPL matches and taken 29 scalps with an average of 25.83 and a strike rate of 18.83. His economy rate is 8.23 with the best bowling figures of 3/13. Though he hasn’t made his debut for India, Avesh has been part of the recent squads. The right-arm pacer will be joined by other bowlers like Mark Wood, Dushmantha Chameera, and Ankit Rajpoot in the Lucknow Super Giants bowling set-up.