IPL History: Most expensive player in each IPL season

It won’t be wrong to say that the auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) is as exciting as the tournament itself. Over the years, the auction has given the game of cricket some most exciting and beautiful stories. From unknown faces becoming millionaires to big names going unsold, the last 15 auctions of the IPL has seen it all.

Meanwhile, the auction for the 16th season of the IPL is underway in Kochi. The event witnessed history as Punjab Kings spent a whopping INR 18.5 crore on England all-rounder Sam Curran to make him the most expensive buy in the IPL auction history, surpassing the INR 16.25 crore sum that Rajasthan Royals had septn on Chris Morris in 2021. Notably, Australian all-rounder Cameron Green also went past Morris' record mark, with five-time champions Mumbai Indians bagging him for INR 17.5 crore. 

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Most Expensive Player in IPL History (season wise):

In the very first-ever auction, MS Dhoni was the costliest player and it did not raise any eyebrows. Following India’s triumph in the 2007 T20 World Cup and Dhoni’s abilities as a batsman and captain, he was the most in-demand player in auction. Chennai Super Kings had secured his services for Rs 9.5 crores. Since then, he has been with the Chennai-based outfit and has led them to three IPL titles.

In the following year, two England players – Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff – became the costliest players before Shane Bond and Kieron Pollard took the honours ahead of IPL 2010. For the 2011 edition, Kolkata Knight Riders made Gautam Gambhir the costliest player by splashing a whopping amount of Rs 14.9 crores.

In the following seasons, the likes of Yuvraj Singh (twice), Ben Stokes (twice), Ravindra Jadeja, Jaydev Unadkat became the costliest players. Last season, Pat Cummins became the costliest player in the history of IPL.

Here is the complete table of IPL’s most expensive players (season-wise)