14 Most Expensive Players in IPL history

14 Most Expensive Players in IPL history: It was recently announced that the auction for the 2017 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place on 20th February, 2017. The previous auctions saw many surprise buys and fierce bidding wars for many players. This time around more than 250 players have registered for the IPL auction and we will definitely see more fierce bidding as franchisees would be looking to fill their teams with players who can be genuine match winners. The 10th edition of Indian Premier League will begin from 05th April 2017. In the spirit of the auctions, we take a look at 14 most expensive buys in IPL history. 14. MS Dhoni (Chennai – 2008) – $1.5 million (Photo Source: BCCI) The most expensive player to be bought in the first ever IPL auction, Indian captain MS Dhoni proved to be worth every dollar spent on him by Chennai Super Kings so far. 2 IPL titles, 1 Champions League title, qualifying in top 4 in every edition of the IPL, you cannot ask for more from your marquee player. However, MS Dhoni was sacked as the skipper of RPS team for the upcoming IPL season. Steve Smith will take over the captaincy duties of RPS in 2017. 13. Andrew Flintoff (Chennai – 2009) – $1.55 million Andrew Flintoff of Lancashire. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The majestic English all-rounder was the focal point of a bidding war in the 2009 mini auction. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore escalated the price war for Flintoff in which Chennai came out on top with a winning bid of the highest price of $1.55 million. Andrew Flintoff turned out to be a bust as he played just a handful of games before getting injured during the IPL 2009 season. His injuries were serious enough for him to announce retirement from all forms of cricket just after a few months. 12. Kevin Pietersen (Delhi – 2014) – $1.55 million (Photo Source: BCCI) Kevin Pietersen was big money retain using the right to match card by Delhi Daredevils in the 2014 auction after they decided to rebuild their team after a disappointing IPL 6. Pietersen cost them INR 9 crores, but Delhi’s fortune refused to turn around and they ended up in the last place again. Kevin Pietersen himself proved to be a hit and miss player during the season as he was struggling with form and controversy in his international career during the season. 11. Irfan Pathan (Delhi – 2011) – $1.59 million Irfan Pathan was bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.59 million. (Photo Source: BCCI ) Irfan Pathan was bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.59 million from Kings XI Punjab in the 2011 auctions. This auction saw many surprise buys and retainers form franchisees. But seeing such big sum of money spent on a decent all-rounder took many by surprise. Again Irfan Pathan couldn’t help much with Delhi’s fortunes and they failed to make it to the play-offs. He wasn’t retained in 2015 and featured in the auction in 2015 (played for CSK) & 16 (RPS) seasons. He remained unsold in 2017 IPL Auction. 10. Dinesh Kartik (Bangalore – 2015) – ($ 1.75 million) (Photo Source: TNPL) Former Delhi wicketkeeper Dinesh Kartik again got the franchisees interested in him when he got a maximum bid of INR 10.5 crores from Bangalore. He was bought by Delhi in 2014 for INR 12.5 crores (USD 2.08 million) in a heated bidding war between Mumbai and Delhi. This time around also he managed to entice the franchisees with his abilities with the bat and behind the stumps. 9. Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai – 2012) – $2 million (Photo Source : NDTV) The rock star as he was named by Shane Warne during his time with Rajasthan Royals, Ravindra Jadeja sparked a massive bidding war when most of the players were in the auction pool in the 2012 auction. In the end, Chennai Super Kings went all out and brought the left-handed all-rounder for $2 million as Captain MS Dhoni wanted him in the team. Since then, Jadeja has been an integral part of the CSK outfit contributing massively with both bat and ball. Ravindra Jadeja has since been retained by CSK for all the seasons and now he is playing for Gujarat Lions. 8. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai – 2011) – $2 million Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: BCCI) The young Rohit Sharma used to represent the now defunct Deccan Chargers from 2008-2010 with whom he won the IPL in 2009. He was then bought by Mumbai Indians in the 2011 auction and was groomed to be the future leader under the tutelage of Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. Sharma was made captain after Harbhajan refused to become captain in 2012 for the Champions League T20 and he responded by taking the team into the finals. Sharma was made full time Mumbai captain in 2012 after an out of form Ricky Ponting dropped himself and he won the title for Mumbai Indians in 2012. 7. Dinesh Karthik (Delhi – 2014) – $2.08 million Another surprise buy in the 2014 auction former Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: BCCI) Another surprise buy in the 2014 auction, former Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik was bought after an escalated bidding war saw him fetch a price of INR 12.5 crores making him the second most expensive buy in the auction. But Karthik could not replicate the success he had with Mumbai for Delhi Daredevils. He is currently playing for Gujarat Lions. 6. Robin Uthappa (Pune – 2011) – $2.1 million Indian opener and occasional wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa was a hot buy in the 2011 auction after he was not retained by the Bangalore franchise. (Photo Source: BCCI) Indian opener and occasional wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa was a hot buy in the 2011 auction after he was not retained by the Bangalore franchise. The newly formed Pune Warriors owned by the Sahara group went on to bid for him and after a good bidding session, Pune bought him for a very high $2.1 million. Uthappa proved to be a decent return for his price, but the dispute between IPL and the Sahara group meant the Pune team played for just 2 seasons in the league. Uthappa played for them with relative success. 5. Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata – 2011) – $2.1 million Yusuf Pathan. (Photo Source: IANS) Yusuf Pathan proved to be the find of the IPL in the 3 seasons he played for the Rajasthan Royals. In 2009, he also scored the fastest hundred in IPL against Mumbai Indians in just 37 balls. So when he went into the auctions in 2011, he was considered as a must expensive player for any franchise. After a three-way bidding match between Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, KKR finally got him for a mind blowing price of $2.1 million. Despite not being in the best of forms, Pathan proved his worth in the most important knockout phase in both the editions of IPL which KKR won. 4. Ben Stokes (RPS – 2016) – $2.16million Ben Stokes of England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Rising Pune Supergiants (14.5 Crores) Prior to the start of the 2017 Indian Premier League Auction, Ben Stokes was touted by many to go ahead for the most amount of money. As an all-rounder, Stokes was perhaps the most impressive and hard working when it came to both his batting and bowling. While Stokes was massively impressive in the tour of India, a hallmark of his career was perhaps reason enough for Stokes to ensure that he would get a hefty price tag. As Richard Madley opened the bidding for Ben Stokes, there was a bidding war that began for him. Initially, it began with the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils. The Kings XI Punjab also went ahead and pooled in their bids for the 26-year old, but the fact was that the Rising Pune Supergiants were the ones hot on his trails. They had just the 17.5 crores in the bank, but Stephen Fleming was willing to break the bank to accommodate his player. Eventually, it was Fleming and his men who ensured the bid. 3. Yuvraj Singh (Bangalore – 2014) – $2.33 million Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for a mind boggling INR 14 crores. (Photo Source: BCCI) After the termination of the Pune franchisee, 2011 World cup hero Yuvraj Singh was a hot commodity in 2014 mini auction. After a fierce bidding war that escalated his 2 crores base price, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for a mind boggling INR 14 crores. Yuvraj Singh proved to be a good buy for them scoring 376 runs in the 2014 edition and ended up as their second highest scorer. But despite his performance, Bangalore decided to release him into the upcoming auction pool in 2015 as they felt, Yuvraj didn’t live up to the money spent on him. 2. Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata – 2011) – $2.4 million Gautam Gambhir was bought by KKR for a record $2.4 million and was immediately made captain of the franchise. (Photo Source: BCCI) Former India opener Gautam Gambhir was released by his home Delhi franchise after the 2010 season. Both Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders went hard after him in the auction with KKR coming out the winners. Gautam Gambhir was bought by KKR for a record $2.4 million and was immediately made captain of the franchise. Gambhir responded by winning the title in 2012 and 2014 for the KKR. He has also been in the top 10 scoring batsmen of all time in IPL. 1. Yuvraj Singh (Delhi-2015) – $2.4 million Yuvraj Singh. (Photo Source: BCCI) Yuvraj Singh bagged another lucrative deal of 16 crores INR in the 2015 IPL players auction in Bangalore. He was going to be a major attraction for all the franchisees and there was a heavy bidding for him between RCB, DD, RR and KKR. All the four franchisees had money in their purse and were ready to spend it as well. RCB had planned to buy him back maybe at a lower price, but Delhi with its huge money purse, bought Yuvraj for 16 crores, which are 2 crore higher than what he was bought for by RCB last time. *List updated till IPL 2017 Auction

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14 Most Expensive Players in IPL history

12. Kevin Pietersen (Delhi – 2014) – $1.55 million

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