IPL 2018: Top 5 most overpriced picks in IPL 2018 auction

These five players got more than they would have imagined in IPL 2018 auction.

IPL 2018 auction was an exciting way to kick off the road to IPL 2018 tournament. It showed that when it comes to bidding, the team owners can get highly competitive in the flow of the moment and things get out of hand.

Many players deserve the huge bids they get, but sometimes the egos and competitiveness of team owners give many players more than they should have gotten in the auction. On the other hand, some players are on the must-buy list of the team owners. Such bidding war sometimes leads to teams getting players for much more than they intended to spend.

Here are five such overpriced picks by franchises in IPL 2018 auction:

Kedar Jadhav – bought by CSK for 7.8 crores

Kedar Jadhav had played for RCB in IPL 2017 | AFP

Kedar Jadhav had played for RCB in IPL 2017 and despite some good performances, found himself back in the auction for IPL 2018. Jadhav has been a mainstay in Indian limited overs format teams as a finisher and part-time off-spinner. Since Jadhav can also keep wickets, it makes him a multi-utility player for any team he is a part of.

Kedar Jadhav has kept his base price at 2 crores and when his name came up for auction, Jadhav saw Chennai Super Kings bidding aggressively for him and were in a bidding war with KKR and KXIP. The bids kept escalating and finally, Jadhav was bought by CSK for a whopping 7.8 crores.

Now despite his abilities and form, paying 7.8 crores for Kedar Jadhav seemed overpriced, as CSK could have used that money to invest in someone cheaper, or even got Jadhav for a lot less than what they got him for.


Sanju Samson – bought by RR for 8 crores

Sanju Samson scored a century in IPL 2017

Sanju Samson is one of the best young batsmen in India and has played for Rajasthan Royals before they were banned for two years. Samson played for Delhi during the IPL 2016 and 2017 this time and scored a century in IPL 2017. Rajasthan Royals went hard after Samson in the auction and finally got him for 8 crores.

Given that Samson has always been on the brink of breaking into the Indian team, currently, he has fallen down the rungs of making it back into the contention, as he was overtaken by Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, and even Kedar Jadhav. Though he is almost certain to play in the majority of games for Rajasthan Royals, he won’t be keeping for RR, as the gloves will be donned by Jos Buttler.

RR would have gotten a better batsman for 8 crores than Samson and his final buying price was definitely too much.


Jaydev Unadkat – bought by RR for 11.50 crores

Jaydev Unadkat

Jaydev Unadkat has seen a resurgence in his cricket career over the last 2 years or so. He had a brilliant IPL 2017 for RPS, picking 24 wickets including a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul. His consistently good performances with both ball and bat for his Ranji team got him back into the Indian team after 3 years, as he played T20Is recently against Sri Lanka.

Unadkat was always going to be a hot pick in the auctions, with teams looking for quality Indian bowlers for their teams. However, no one expected Rajasthan to pay 11.50 crores for Unadkat. RR got into a bidding war with Chennai Super Kings for Unadkat, as CSK was also looking for an Indian bowler.

Rajasthan Royals managed to snatch Unadkat for IPL 2018, but for a price of 11.50 crore, making him the most expensive Indian player sold in IPL 2018 auction.


K Gowtham – bought by RR for 6.2 crores

K Gowtham

Not many have heard of Krishnappa Gowtham, the Karnataka off-spinner, who has been their highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2018. However, Gowtham became the subject of a big bidding war between RR, KKR, and MI. Gowtham who is also a handy hitter down the order, had kept his base price at 20 lakhs, but managed to get 6.2 crores, 31 times his base price and will now play for the Rajasthan Royals team in IPL 2018. He will also have lots of pressure of performing for RR, thanks to the price RR paid for him.


Krunal Pandya – bought by MI for 8.8 crores using RTM

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya was the Man of the final for MI in IPL 2017, as he won the match for MI with both bat and ball and made them the first team to win the IPL trophy three times. Pandya has been a revelation for MI in the IPL so far.

Therefore, despite a bidding war with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians used their RTM card to buy back Krunal Pandya for 8.8 crores. Though he was an integral part of Mumbai Indians team, paying 8.8 crores to retain Pandya seem to be too much for Mumbai Indians. Pandya has been out of the game for a while with an injury and his form will be under scanner when IPL 2018 commences.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 31 Jan, 2018

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