Sky247 Staff
The round one of the IPL auction brought out some very surprising results. While many would have predicted Glenn Maxwell to draw the highest bid, it was Chris Morris that turned out to be the most expensive player.
English batsmen Alex Hales and Jason Roy were in fine form in the Big Bash League but couldn’t attract any bidders. Steve Smith was set to be one of the key players in the auction list and was sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2.20 crore. It was surprising to see RCB bidding for Smith as they already had a packed batting order. However, they were not interested to pay anything more than his base price.
Evin Lewis, Aaron Finch and Hanuma Vihari also went unsold. Finch had a disastrous season of the Big Bash League and it seems that his poor form cost him his IPL contract. Evin Lewis, who is currently playing in the Regional 50 cup in West Indies also couldn’t find a bidder.
The second half of the round one started with KKR, RCB and RR fighting for Glenn Maxwell. KKR was the first one to bid for Maxwell before RCB and RR jumped into the battle. RCB needed a finisher and it was evident that they’ll be ready to spend a handsome amount for Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell was eventually sold to RCB for 14.25 crore. Shakib Al Hasan entered the bid and was sold to KKR was 3.2 crore. PBKS was also interested in Shakib for a while but opted out soon.
Chennai was looking for an all-rounder and since they couldn’t buy Maxwell, they went for Moeen Ali who was sold to them for 7 crores. SRH, RR, DC fought hard for Shivam Dube who was eventually sold to RR for 4.4 crores.
RCB, who released Chris Morris earlier this year went for the all-rounder. Mi, RR and PBKG also entered the bid but it was RR who bought him for a whopping 16.25 crore. Malan was sold to Punjab KIngs at his base price of 1.50 crore.
