Mumbai Indians splurge INR 15.25 crore to re-sign Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan became the second-most expensive Indian player acquired in IPL auction history after Mumbai Indians re-signed the 23-year-old with a winning bid of INR 15.25 crore on the opening day of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

The five-time champions entered the bidding at the keeper-bat's base price of INR 2 crore and stayed the course, staving off interest from Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad along the way. Kishan's big payday makes him the second-highest earner at Mumbai, behind only Rohit Sharma, who was retained for INR 16 crore.

Deepak Chahar the headline act as fast bowlers enjoy big payday

As many as five fast bowlers touched the INR 10 crore mark in the post-lunch session of the auction with Chennai Super Kings' winning bid of INR 14 crore to retain the services of Deepak Chahar the highest among them. The defending champions though were unable to get back their other Indian seamer, Shardul Thakur, who went to Delhi Capitals for INR 10.75 crore. Prasidh Krishna and Lockie Ferguson were signed on for INR 10 crore each by Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans respectively while Lucknow Super Giants made Avesh Khan the highest paid uncapped player in auction history with a bid of INR 10 crore.

KKR break the bank for Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was a big winner among the marquee set of players and was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 12.25 crore. Iyer, like Kishan, had been widely tipped to be a hot pick ahead of the auction with franchises looking to stack up on young talents with an eye on long-term team building. The two-time champions entered the bidding for the 27-year-old at INR 6.75 crore and staved off competition from Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans to land their target. The Knight Riders also re-signed Pat Cummins at a reduced price of INR 7.25 crore from the marquee set and later brought back southpaw Nitish Rana for INR 8 crore.

'Buy back' the flavour of the season

Teams were happy to spend big on the players they'd previously had in their rosters but couldn't retain because of the retention cap. Royal Challengers Bangalore re-signed Harshal Patel, last season's Purple Cap winner, for INR 10.75 crore. They also forked out an identical sum on Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who played two games for the franchise last year as a mid-season replacement.

CSK bought back four more of their former players, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa and KM Asif even as IPL veteran Suresh Raina went unsold in the first round.

Delhi Capitals, who had four of their players from their 2021 roster in the marquee set, failed in their attempts to win back any of them. They did, however, land Player of the 2021 T20 World Cup and former SRH captain David Warner for INR 6.25 crore.

Among teams that did managed to dip twice into the first set were Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The former, who came in with the biggest pre-auction purse, roped in Shikhar Dhawan for INR 8.25 crore as well as Kagiso Rabada for INR 9.25 crore.

The Royals, on the hand, landed Trent Boult for INR 8 crore and R. Ashwin for INR 5 crore and then pocketed Shimron Hetmyer (INR 8.5 cr) and talented Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal (INR 7.75 cr) in the next set.

Uncapped Indians with IPL experience draw big bids

Teams saw big value in T20 specific skills, even if the players in question were uncapped at the international level. Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia were each signed for INR 9 crore by Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans respectively. Rahul Tripathi was prized away for INR 8.5 crore by SRH, who also re-signed Abhishek Sharma for INR 6.5 crore. KKR bought back an uncapped player of their own, signing Shivam Mavi for INR 7.25 Crore. Among the overseas options, player of the just-concluded U19 World Cup Dewald Brevis joined the Mumbai Indians for INR 3 crore.

Spin is valued more in a package

Unlike their fast-bowling counterparts, specialist spinners didn't command astronomical sums with Yuzvendra Chahal and Ashwin earning INR 6.25 crore and INR 5 crore respectively from the Royals. Rahul Chahar was picked by Punjab Kings for INR 5.25 crore. Spin-bowling all-rounders, on the other hand, were in demand. Hasaranga and Tewatia led this group with several others including Washington Sundar (INR 8.75 crore, SRH), Krunal Pandya (INR 8.25 crore, LSG), Abhishek Sharma (INR 6.5 crore, SRH) and Deepak Hooda (INR 5.75 crore) getting picked at high prices.

Head here for the full squads and purse.