Virat Kohli's IPL auction price set at ₹30 Crore+ after RCB's potential release

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) auctioneer Hugh Edmeades talked about the potential bid for Virat Kohli if the batter ever comes in the auction. He said that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star would go for a price of over INR 30 crore.

Indian premier batter Virat Kohli has never entered the auction. He was picked by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru from a U19 draft during the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). This came after he led the India U19 team to the World Cup win in 2008 and also led from the front.

Virat Kohli reportedly was picked for the price of USD 30,000. But he didn't have the kind of season he would've wanted. The right-hander scored just 165 runs from 13 matches at an average of 15 and a strike-rate of 105.09 with a top score of 39. But the franchise trusted him and didn't let him go.

The decision to not let Virat Kohli go was arguably one of the best decisions in the league. Since then the batter has been with the team and is now the biggest superstar in the game. He is currently the leading batter in all three formats of the game as well as in the Indian Premier League.

Hugh Edmeades predicts the price for Virat Kohli if he comes into the auction

During an interaction with Arvind Krishnan for CricBlog, the former IPL Auctioneer, Hugh Edmeades, was asked about the price Virat Kohli would get in the IPL auction. Replying to this, he said that batter entering the auction would be amazing and would get over INR 30 crores. He explained:

"Without being flippant – how long is a ball of string? It would be the most amazing honour to offer Virat in an auction. As to the price, I imagine he would achieve in excess of 3,000 lakh."

Virat Kohli is currently the leading run-getter in the history of the IPL. He is the first batter in the history of the league to score 8000 runs. The right-hander has slammed 8004 runs at an average strike rate of over 38.67 and 131.97 to go with 7 tons and 55 half-centuries.

Hugh Edmeades also talked about the auction strategy that impressed him. He said that his focus mainly was on ensuring that he didn't miss any bids. He explained:

"No, nothing obvious anyway – but then, I am concentrating too hard on making sure that I don’t miss any bids and ensuring fair play to all the franchises in allowing them enough time to make up their minds as to whether they want to continue with the bidding or indeed to enter the bidding at the very end."

Hugh Edmeades further talked about how every auction comes with an exciting bidding war. While citing the example of Varun Chakaravarthy, he explained:

"It is always gratifying when a young Indian player attracts a bidding war. One such player was Varun Chakaravarthy in the 2019 auction. His base price was 20 lakh and he was finally bought for 840 lakh," he concluded.