IPL 2019: 5 most overpriced buys at the auction

These five players have gotten a huge amount of money given their base price and prior performances.

The Indian Premier League 2019 auction which was held on 18 December 2018 in Jaipur saw the eight franchises bid on some of the best players in international and national cricket, including some unknown names.

Though the franchises had different purses according to the players they retained and players they required. Kings XI Punjab had the biggest purse with INR 36.20 crores. Some of the players had kept their base prices low in order to attract bids, while some players had kept their base prices high in order to get a single bid.

However, there were many surprising bidding wars for players, some of whom were bought by franchises for a seemingly higher amount than they should have gotten.

Here are 5 most overpriced buys at the auction

PRABHSIMRAN SINGH
Sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 4.80 crores

18-year-old Prabhsimran Singh, whose base price was just INR 20 lakhs, was bought by Kings XI Punjab for a whopping amount of INR 4.80 crores. Prabhsimran Singh is a talented wicketkeeper, who has played U19 cricket for India and was recently in the India emerging team, which played in the 2018 Emerging nations Asia Cup.

KXIP might have picked Prabhsimran Singh as a backup keeper for KL Rahul, who is also shouldered with the responsibility of opening the innings. Prabhsimran considers Adam Gilchrist and former India captain MS Dhoni as his idols and it remains to be seen whether he can justify the amount for which he was bought, with his performances, when given opportunities.  

CARLOS BRATHWAITE
Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 5 croresWest Indies’ T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite had put his base price at INR 75 lakhs in hopes of getting picked in the IPL 2019 and Kolkata Knight Riders picked him up for a price of INR 5 Crores.

Brathwaite will return to his love, the Eden Gardens, where he had hit four sixes in four balls off Ben Stokes to win the World T20 2016 for West Indies. The tall all-rounder has previously played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and is yet to showcase his full potential. With KKR having Andre Russell already, Brathwaite just adds to KKR’s hitting prowess.

However, KKR seemed to pay such a big amount for Brathwaite in hopes of utilizing him in tandem with Russell.

SAM CURRAN
Sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 7.20 crore

England’s newest all-rounder Sam Curran made a big name for himself by earning the Man of series award against India in the recently concluded Test series. Curran impressed with both bat and ball and he had put himself in the auction with the base price of INR 2 crores.

However, Curran became the subject of a big bidding war with Kings XI Punjab finally buying him for INR 7.20 crores, making him the costliest foreign player in the auction. The 20-year-old is relatively young in his international career and has already shown that he is a talented player, given the bids he received in the auction.

It remains to be seen how KXIP utilizes the talents and skills of Sam Curran.

VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY
Sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 8.40 crores

The cricketer-turned-architect-turned-cricketer Varun Chakravarthy came into the knowledge of the cricketing world thanks to his exploits in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. A mystery spinner is something Kings XI Punjab likes given them buying R Ashwin and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman.

Chakravarthy recently made his FC debut and has played List-A matches for Tamil Nadu picking 22 wickets in 9 matches. However, the bidding war for Chakravarthy was escalating between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, which was won by KXIP as they bought him for INR 8.40 crores.

Given such an amount behind his name, Varun might easily feel pressured to perform, as he is the joint costliest Indian player in the auction and it remains to be seen KXIP fitting him in their playing XIs.

JAYDEV UNADKAT
Sold to Rajasthan Royals for INR 8.40 crores

Jaydev Unadkat had hit pay dirt in the IPL 2018 auction, as he was picked by Rajasthan Royals for an amount of INR 11.50 crores, on back of his performances for RPS in IPL 2017. However, after an underwhelming performance in IPL 2018, RR released Unadkat.

However, the same franchise bid for him in the IPL 2019 auction and bought him for INR 8.40 crores, making him the joint costliest Indian buy in the auction. Unadkat, though not a veteran, has experience behind him and RR might have given him a benefit of doubt, thinking of his IPL 2018 performance as a one-off thing. However, Unadkat will have to perform in order to justify his price tag in the auction.