2021 Indian Premier League Auction: Shocks and Surprises!

The fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked of its countdown to the excitement with the pre-season auction. The auction is a draft-esque event in which teams bid for players to fill out their squads. The winning bids are the players’ salaries for the tournament, all figures used are the closest equivalent prices paid in British Pounds.

The auction started slowly with only one player from the opening group being picked up, the Australian batsman Steve Smith. It was a surprise to see Smith, a huge name on the international scene and previous Rajasthan Royals captain, sell for only £220,000; it’s an astronomical drop from the £1.2 million salary he was earning at the Royals last year.

Big names were left unsold from the first group - Englishman Alex Hales was passed up despite being the top run scorer in the recently concluded Big Bash League, Australian T20 captain Aaron Finch and England opener Jason Roy.

The second group was where the excitement and splurging began. One of the biggest surprises of the event was the sale of Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. The previous year saw Maxwell sold for a huge fee, yet his performances did little to back up the price tag. I was certain that he would be picked up but for a more modest price. To my, and probably the rest of the cricketing community’s, surprise a bidding war erupted between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), concluding with the Bangalore side paying an astonishing £1.4 million for Maxwell’s services.

Englishman Mooen Ali was picked up by CSK for £700,000. It was clear they wanted a spinning all-rounder and picked Ali up following their failed attempt to secure Maxwell.

A veteran campaigner with RCB prior to his release at the end of last season, Morris caused a stir. A lengthy battle eventually saw Rajasthan secure his services whilst making him the costliest purchase in auction history, paying £1.6 million.

Number one ranked international T20 batsman Dawid Malan was bought by Punjab Kings for only his base price of £150,000. I was expecting his sale to incite a bidding war the sale of Chris Morris preceding Malan did not help.

Young Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson also drew a great deal of attention; a lot of teams eager to acquire the player who was the leading wicket taker during the Big Bash League. Punjab Kings eventually won with a £1.4 million bid. Fellow Aussie fast bowler Riley Meredith joined him at the Kings with another big bid of £800,000, a somewhat shocking price considering he is an uncapped player with no IPL experience.

Indian test stalwart batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was bought by CSK for his base price (£50,000), not a surprise considering his batting style is certainly not suited to the ‘see ball hit ball’ mentality of T20.

Last Year’s breakout star Kyle Jamieson was a player who was always going to attract a few bids, but I was certainly not expecting him to garner the price he did. RCB paid a whopping £1.5 million for the Kiwi, with Punjab Kings missing out.

The auction has seen some astronomical prices for players, making some millionaires in the blink of an eye. RCB, Rajasthan and Punjab Kings have spent big on established names whilst others have, like Mumbai Indians, have prioritised players in positions they’re short on. It is certainly shaping up to be an interesting and exciting competition this year.