IPL 2021 Auction: 5 Most Expensive Buys

Chennai hosted the IPL 2021 auction on last Thursday (18th February), where we experienced some great battles among the franchises to secure the top-quality players.

Just like the pervious IPL auctions, the top most expensive players have again become the headlines due to their attractive values, which is the result of strong bidding wars. Here we are talking about the top five most expensive cricketers in the IPL 2021 auction.

IPL 2021 Auction: 5 Most Expensive Buys

Krishnappa Gowtham – INR 9.25 crore (Chennai Super Kings)

The 32-year-old uncapped Indian all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham was the most expensive Indian cricketer in the IPL 2021 auction as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought him for INR 9.25 crore. While Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) started the bidding war for him, whose base price was INR 20 lakh, CSK finally won the bid for him in that auction.

After that bidding, Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped player in the IPL auction history as he broke the previous record of Krunal Pandya’s INR 8.8 crore (Mumbai Indians).

From 2018 to 2020, Krishnappa Gowtham played 24 IPL matches for two different teams, where the off-spinner took 13 wickets and right-handed lower-order batsman scored 186 runs (average 14.30; strike-rate 169.09).

Jhye Richardson – INR 14 crore (Punjab Kings)

The 24-year-old Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson was the fourth most expensive cricketer in the IPL 2021 auction. While Richardson had the base price of INR 1.5 crore, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) started the bidding war for but Punjab Kings ultimately won the bid for this youngster for INR 14 crore.

The IPL 2021 will be the first season for Jhye Richardson in the Indian Premier League. However, the youngster has impressed in his early days of the game. While the fast bowler has taken 9 wickets in 9 T20Is, he has picked up 78 wickets in 62 T20s. Recently, in the BBL 2020/21, Richardson finished as the leading wicket-taker by picking up 29 wickets in 17 matches for Perth Scorchers.

Glenn Maxwell – INR 14.25 crore (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was the third most expensive player in the IPL 2021 auction. Before the beginning of the bidding war, Maxwell had the base price of INR 2 crore. At first, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) started the bidding war for Maxwell. Later, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) joined in that battle and ultimately RCB won that bid for INR 14.25 crore.

Glenn Maxwell is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers in T20 cricket history. He is also very experienced in the Indian Premier League as he has played 82 IPL matches for three different IPL teams, where he scored 1505 runs (average 22.13; strike-rate 154.67) with the help of six half-centuries and also took 19 wickets. While his recent IPL performances were not much impressive, he was the Most Valuable Player in the IPL 2014.

Kyle Jamieson – INR 15 crore (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

The 26-year-old New Zealand cricketer Kyle Jamieson has highly impressed in his early period of international career and it has helped him to get the strong value in the IPL 2021 auction where he became the second most expensive cricketer. Beginning the auction from his base price of INR 75 lakh, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) first showed the interest on him and later Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) joined in that battle. However, RCB ultimately won that battle after putting the bid of INR 15 crore.

So, the upcoming IPL season (IPL 2021) will be the first IPL experience for Kyle Jamieson. While he has got 3 wickets in 4 T20Is, he has picked up 54 wickets in 38 T20Is.

Chris Morris – INR 16.25 crore (Rajasthan Royals)

During the IPL 2021 auction, South African all-rounder Chris Morris not only became the most expensive player in that auction, but he also created history by becoming the most expensive player in the IPL auction history. He had the base price of INR 75 lakh when Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) started the bidding war for him. Later, Rajasthan Royals (RR) joined in that battle while Punjab Kings also showed the higher interest on him. Finally, Rajasthan Royals secured Morris after spending out the record INR 16.25 crore.

The 33-year-old Chris Morris has already played for four different IPL teams, including serving for Rajasthan Royals in 2015. After playing 70 IPL matches, the right-arm fast pacer has taken 80 wickets and the right-handed lower-order batsman has also scored 551 runs (average 23.95; strike-rate 157.87), including two half-centuries.