IPL 2018: Top Six Most Expensive Batsmen And Their Cost Per Run

The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded just a few days ago and like most seasons many new records were registered. In the end, it was Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who returned as champion after defeating Surnisers Hyderabad by eight wickets courtesy of a magical knock from the blade of Shane Watson.

Australian star Watson scored a magnificent unbeaten 117 which came off just 57 deliveries.

All through the tournament, there has been some exceptional performance by the batsmen from all the franchises.

Now, with the tournament concluding last Sunday (May 27), let us have a look at the five of costliest batsmen in the tournament and the amount of money they took for each run, this season in particular.

Virat Kohli- 17 crore:

Virat Kohli has been the only player who has never gone to the auction after the inaugural tournament in 2008. He has been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in all the past seasons.

Kohli was retained for Rs INR 17 crore by Bangalore, this year. He was quite brilliant with his willow.

However, his efforts were not enough to help his franchise go through to the playoffs.

Despite a late surge Bangalore lost their final must-win game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) which eliminated them from the tournament. He scored 530 runs with each run coming at a cost of INR 3.20 lakh.

Rohit Sharma- 15 crore:

The Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper had a pretty poor season. He failed to score 300 runs for the first time in the tournament. His performance in the middle order reflected the performance of Indians, for the majority of the tournament.

They lost close matches and despite a comeback of sorts, they lost their last group game to the Delhi Daredevils (DD) – to bow out of the tournament. He scored only 286 runs in 14 innings at a below-par average of 23.83.

After being retained by Mumbai for a huge amount of money, his performance was quite poor given his prowess. He took a whopping INR 5.24 lakh for each runs this season.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni- 15 crore:

The former Indian skipper was retained by the Super Kings for INR 15 crores. He regained his lost touch and had arguably the best IPL in his career.

Dhoni looked in sublime touch for the major part of the tournament. He was quite consistent in the middle order and looked the old vintage Dhoni.

The 36-year-old Dhoni smashed the spinners with disdain which we witnessed during the beginning of his career.

Dhoni smashed 29 sixes during the course of the tournament and scored 455 runs in 15 innings. His form will be a huge relief for Team India as they prepare for the 2019 World slated to be held next year. Dhoni took INR 3.29 lakh for each runs this season.

Ben Stokes- 12.5 crore:

The English all-rounder was bought by the Rajasthan-based outfit for a whopping INR 12.5 crore. He was one of the star players for the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), last year. He scored a brilliant century in one of the matches and was quite impressive. Hence, he received a huge sum of INR 12.5 crore, this year.

However, he was quite ordinary all through the tournament. He failed to put up an impressive performance either with the bat or with the ball.

Stokes scored just 196 runs in 13 innings at a below-par average of 14. His each run cost was around INR 6.37 lakh.

Suresh Raina- 11 crore:

Suresh Raina is retained by the Super Kings for INR 11 crore. The southpaw has played for Chennai, for the all the eight years they were part of the tournament before, this year.

The southpaw played for Gujarat Lions (GL) for a couple of years during the suspension of CSK.

Raina was quite consistent all through the tournament. He scored 455 runs in 15 innings and was brilliant at his return season for the CSK. The southpaw scored each run at a cost of Rs 2.47 lakh.

KL Rahul- 11 crore:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would rue their decision to release KL Rahul, who had a brilliant season with the bat for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

Rahul scored consistently at the top of the order and became the pillar of the Punjab batting line-up. He smashed some exceptional shots and looked a class apart for the Mohali-based outfit.

The Karnataka-based batsman Rahul scored 659 runs at a staggering average of 54 and an exceptional strike rate of 158.41.

Rahul’s form will definitely keep Rohit Sharma on the toes. His brilliant performance has made a case for himself at the top of the order.

However, given Rohit’s stupendous record in the international circuit, it will still take Rahul considerable amount of time to fill the shoes of Rohit. He took Rs 1.51 lakh for each run in IPL 2018.