The Indian premier league IPL is the home of surprises in the realm of cricket. Be it on the pitch or at the auction be ready for high pumping action packet surprises at all time. IPL has established itself as a place for talents. You can have the best of best players from the world, but knowing the outcome of a match or even the auction is next to impossible. IPL is the time where we get experts and analysts from all over the cricketing world come together with their predictions and calculation based on the team strength, the opponent and many more. But more often than not we only get surprises after every game. All this is thanks to the value and potential that every player in the different teams has that makes no team is better than the other.
IPL Auction 2020 Gets Fascinating
When the field is packed with so much action day in and day out, history proves that the auction is no less of an event. As a matter of fact, it is the first place where the action begins for a great season of IPL. For IPL 2020 the auction happens on December 19 of 2019. It is safe to say every team were on their A-game as no one wanted to leave the player that they came for and the auction was as exciting as ever. Surprisingly this year saw some of the most expensive buy-ins recent times and some of them are expected to be sold as such price while others came out of the blue. Here are the top 5 players who were bought for the highest money during the auction.
FUN fact: All these 5 players are international cricket players.
1. Pat Cummins
Australian fast bowler made history during the auction by becoming the highest-paid international cricketer in the history of IPL. Pat Cummins is being paid 15.5 CR for playing the IPL 2020 for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He is only second to Yuvraj Singh in the overall highest-paid players with 16 CR
Cummins is known for his pace and the line at which he bowls can give the batsman a thought time when they are at the crease. Being the number one test bowler as of now it is expected from him and he certainly lives up to it. There was a war at the auction when Pat’s name came out of the bag. Teams started to pour out money just so they can have him on their team. Pat along with his experience in international cricket and pressure situation is definitely worth the money he is being a pain.
2. Glen Maxwell
A player who is known to strike fear in the minds of young bowlers in the IPL. At a strike rate of 161, it speaks for itself. He is one of the most destructive batsmen that the world has ever known. His ability to hit the ball over the fence at will makes him one of the toughest players to bowl to. To add on to this his ability to bowl also proven valuable in the past and this makes him the perfect all-rounder of the time. All these motivated the Kings XI Punjab to fight for him. In the end, Glen returns to his old franchise for a whooping 10.75 CR making him the second most paid player during the auction.
3. Chris Morris
Chris Morris has earned a name in the international standards and is known well all over the world. This South African fast bowler comes with a lot of experience as well. But in recent times he is not as effective as he was before. Bats men are now able to read him well and can hit him at will. It is his experience that can make the difference in such an action-filled tournament like the IPL. It is a surprise to everyone as teams where the fight over and at last RCB managed to get him for 10 CR. Critics feel this is a bit too high as in his last outing at the MSL he only managed to get 10 wickets from 11 matches. Be it his experience or his ability to bat a bit or the fact that every team needed a fast bowler, he was paid more making him the 3rd highest bid in the auction.
4. Sheldon Cottrel
West Indian pace bowler got every selector’s attention during their tour to Indian where he managed to take the wickets of the best batsmen in the world. This happened just before the auction so all those teams who were looking for a good pace bowler in a subcontinental condition know who to go for. It was not long as teams decided to join the party as soon as his name came out of the bag. At the end of the bidding war, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab for 8.5 CR. Punjab was able to do this thanks to the high purse value they had and no other team was ready to spend so much money as they were all low on allowable money value.
5. Nathan Coulter Nile
It is safe to say this auction was all about the pace bowlers and the all-round players as that is where the most money was spent on. An Australian pace bowler again made the list for the highest bid during the auction. Nathan returns to his old franchise after 6 years.
MI did not get him easy as they have to fight with their arch-rivals CSK as they were also in need of a pace bowler but Mumbai was not ready to give them any chance. In the end, MI managed to get Nathan for 8 CR.
