5 Major steal deals of all-time in IPL history

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest property of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). By conducting the tournament that lasts around seven weeks, the BCCI fills its coffers as fans pay for the tournament through their nose and throng IPL arenas. Not just that, even Star India struck a whopping deal worth INR 16347 Crores and bought the broadcast rights of the T20 extravaganza for a period of 5 years.

Not just the board, most of the players earn massive amounts by playing the tournament for a few weeks. Indian skipper Virat Kohli draws an annual sum of Rs 17 Crores from the Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB), while MS Dhoni is paid a sum of Rs 15 Crores for rendering his services to the Chennai Super Kings(CSK).

However, there were a few players over the history of the IPL, who did not go for the amount they would have deserved, and can be termed as ‘steals’.

In this article, let us take a look at the five steal deals in the history of the IPL:

5. AB De Villiers

Even when he signed up for the inaugural edition of the IPL way back in the year 2008, AB De Villiers was a name to reckon with. The batting genius had announced his arrival to the world in the 2007 World Cup, and it was his exploits with the willow that played a crucial role in the South African side reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

The right-hander plundered 372 runs during the tournament and scored his runs at a stunning strike rate of 100.81. In fact, in the 2007 World Cup, De Villiers had scored a sensational 146 against hosts West Indies and scored his runs off just 130 deliveries. And, just a year later, in the 2008 IPL auction, the Delhi Daredevils pouched the South African for just Rs 1.2 Crores.

In the 2008 edition, De Villiers could play only 6 innings and did not get many opportunities to express himself. From there on, the graph has only been upwards for the South African. While he would go on to become the second-highest run-scorer for South Africa in ODI cricket and amass 25 hundreds, he left his mark in the whites as well, scoring 8765 runs at an average of 50.66.

As far as the IPL is concerned, De Villiers has etched his name in the annals of IPL history as one of the greatest willow wielders. The right-hander is the sixth highest run-scorer in the history of the league and has amassed 4849 runs at an average of 40.40 and a strike rate of 151.91. Currently, De Villiers is drawing a sum of Rs 11 Crore from the Bangalore outfit.