With the IPL 2023 season around the corner, Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma recalled the inaugural Indian Premier League auction when he was signed by the now-defunct Deccan Chargers.

Rohit, who was only 20-year-old back in 2008, was roped in by the Hyderabad-based franchise INR 4.80 Crore. He played three seasons for the Chargers before MI bought him for INR 13 Crore in 2011.

Since then, Rohit has been associated with the Mumbai-based franchise. He has led MI to five IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Speaking to Star Sports, Sharma recounted the first-ever IPL auction, saying that he was thinking about which car to buy after fetching a hefty deal.

"Firstly, I didn’t even know how much USD 750,000 is. A thing like the auction had never happened for us before and nobody even heard of it. My number came very late in the auction, probably after one and half hour," Rohit said.

"After I was sold, I was told that I was getting USD 750,000, I think it was 3 to 3.5 crore. But I was really happy and thought about which car should I buy. That was the planning I was doing! I was only 20 years-old at that time."

Rohit Sharma will complete 10 years as the captain of Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL 2023, slated to get underway on March 31.

MI will begin their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2.