IPL 2018: Five players who have been worth the big bucks

Every year, the Indian Premier League (IPL) presents us with a dish of exciting cricketing action topped with a dash of glitz, glamour and exuberance. However, the bugle for the competitive league every season is sounded way before the players take the field, clad in their respective team colours. It’s the Player Auctions that marks the kick-off of the IPL each year, as players from various nations, some well-known while some dust-covered jewels waiting to be unearthed, are drafted into the different franchises.

Each year, the auctions turn out to be exciting affairs, attracting the attention of the entire globe towards their proceedings. Big bucks are brought out onto the table as franchise owners raise the baton jubilantly like a victory flag and the gavel is brought down by the auctioneer, Richard Madley with a sharp sound, sealing a player’s fate. With millions of rupees changing hands during the construction of an IPL team, it’s very evident that all the players are expected to perform to the best of their ability to take their team to the victor’s pedestal.

This time around, in IPL 2018, a staggering amount of INR 431.4 crores was invested in the purchase of players by the eight participating franchises. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were the highest spenders with a figure INR 80 crores to their name. While Ben Stokes emerged as the costliest player of the season when he was sold to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INT 12.5 crores, Jaydev Unadkat became the most expensive player at Rs 11.5 crore for the same franchise. But who are the players who were able to justify the hefty amounts spent in acquiring them? Let’s take a look at the 5 IPL 2018 players who’ve justified their price tag.

1. KL Rahul

When Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chose not to retain Lokesh Rahul in the 2018 season of the IPL, they couldn’t have possibly had an inkling of the havoc the 26-year-old was about the wreak on the bowling attacks of the different franchises. Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) shelled out a whopping sum of INR 11 crores to get hold of Rahul and he’s not disappointed his team. Rahul seems to be in the form of his life as he’s hitting the ball well and scoring the big runs for his side, guiding them to one victory at a time.

Currently, Rahul has hit 268 runs in just 7 matches at an admirable strike rate of 170.70 and has also affected 3 dismissals as keeper of the KXIP. His ability to mix aggression with sound technique has seen him hit some beautiful knocks in the season so far. The ‘Most Runs’ table has him on the fifth spot for his run tally. His quickfire innings of 60 runs off just 27 deliveries against the KKR was an absolute show-stealer and provided ample proof as to how the talented batsman-wicketkeeper has justified the big bucks invested in him.