Top Players in the 2019 IPL Auction

On Tuesday, the auctions began for the 2019 IPL season. This normally happens every year before the season begins. This year, around 351 players were on the roster out of 1003 registered players. That number would be whittled down even further to 70 players. These 70 players will be divided among 8 IPL teams, namely, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, King XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

In addition to that, these teams have also retained a certain number of players into their squads. So, a brand new team will be built around the retained players. Without further ado, here are the top buys from the 2019 IPL auction.

Varun Chakravarthy

The Tamil Nadu bowler was bought by the Kings XI Punjab for an astounding 8.4 crore. He started off as a wicket-keeper/batsman until a knee injury. Since then, Varun Chakravarthy turned to bowling spin and played in the Tamil Nadu Premier League for Madurai.

He was the highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a haul of 22 wickets. This mystery spinner will likely be a huge asset for the Kings XI Punjab in their bid for an IPL title. It isn’t his first time in the IPL as he has bowled at CSK and KKR nets in practice sessions.

Jaydev Unadkat

Last year, Jaydev Unadkat was hot property in the IPL and this year too, it is deja vu. In the IPL 2018 Auctions, he went for 11.5 crores, but this time, he was sold for 8.4 crores. He was released by the Rajasthan Royals, only to be bought back again.

The bowler has excelled in the IPL and in the T20 format in general. Out of 10 T20 innings, he has claimed 14 wickets, while out of 61 IPL matches, he has bagged 67 wickets. His best figured are 5/25. He made his IPL debut in 2010 for the Kolkata Knight Riders and his last IPL match was for Rajasthan against KKR.

Sam Curran

The 20-year old England player is a rising star at the moment. He kicked off a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. But then, Punjab got the last laugh when they bid 7.2 crores for him.

This will Curran’s first foray into 20-over cricket, having played mostly in Tests and ODIs. The all-rounder has been hailed as a child prodigy by many experts and could deliver in the IPL. Curran has also taken the top spot as the most expensive foreign player, shared with Colin Ingram.

Colin Ingram

The South African player was sold for 6.4 crores to the newly christened Delhi Capitals. Capitals had to fend off the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad to stake their claim on the 33-year old.

He made his IPL debut in 2011 for Delhi, at that time known as the Daredevils, and had a less-than stellar time. His last match was against the now defunct Pune Warriors India, where he mustered only 13 runs. Hopefully, his fortunes will turn around this year.

Carlos Brathwaite

West Indies players were all the rage this IPL auction as several were snapped up by the teams. The oldest of them, 30-year old Carlos Brathwaite was sold for 5 crores to Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR managed to prevent KXIP from storing another player in their arsenal when they won the bidding war.

The all-rounder has played 14 IPL matches, so is no stranger to the format. As a batsman, the Windies skipper’s best score is 43 runs. Meanwhile, on the bowling front, he has claimed 13 wickets.

Axar Patel

Yet another all-rounder on the list, Axar Patel was sold to Delhi Capitals for 5 crores. Once again, KXIP tried to stick their feet in the door, but Delhi slammed the door firmly shut. Patel is a decent all-rounder and can trouble batsmen with his spin.

Out of 68 IPL matches, he has scored 686 runs with a high score of 44. On the bowling front, Patel has picked up 61 wickets with his best figures of 4/21. He made his IPL debut in 2014 for KXIP against Chennai and his last match was in 2018, played for KXIP again and face CSK yet again.