IPL Auction 2024: A look at the players who had a low base price, but turned out to be the biggest gainers

New Delhi:  The IPL 2024 player auction in Dubai saw Australia’s fast-bowling duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins become the most expensive players by earning paychecks of INR 24.75 crore and 20.50 crore respectively.

Others like Daryl Mitchell (INR 14 crore), Harshal Patel (INR 11.75 crore) and Alzarri Joseph (INR 11.50 crore) were among the big earners in the IPL Player Auction. But there were some uncapped India players who earned huge and life-changing pay days in the auction. IANS looks at the players who had a low base price at the auction, but got big bucks on Tuesday night.

Sameer Rizvi – base price of INR 20L, earns INR 8.40 crore deal with CSK

There were a lot of former cricketers who believed that Rizvi will be in huge demand as a young India batter, who’s in-form in the shortest format and can be a long-term investment. It eventually panned out in that way as Rizvi’s name got three teams interested.

But Chennai Super Kings, the five-time IPL champions, beat off competition from Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals to acquire his services for a whopping INR 8.4 crores, the most amount paid for any uncapped player in Tuesday’s auction.

In the inaugural UP T20 League held earlier this year, Rizvi scored 455 runs in nine innings in the tournament for Kanpur Superstars, including hitting two incredible centuries, one of which was the fastest ton in the competition. Rizvi also had the distinction of hitting the most sixes by any batter in the competition.

In this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Rizvi scored 277 runs in seven innings, averaging 69.25 at a strike-rate of 139.89, including two fifties. He then went on to be the leading run-getter in the U23 List A competition, where he hit 84 runs from 50 balls in the final, as Uttar Pradesh emerged victorious.

Kumar Kushagra – base price of INR 20L, earns INR 7.2 crore deal with DC

A wicketkeeper-batter coming in from Jharkhand always has a nice ring to it. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see Kushagra attracting interest from Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals, both of whom wanted an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in their ranks. Eventually, DC acquired his services for INR 7.2 crore.

Kushagra was a part of the India team in the 2020 Men’s U-19 World Cup in South Africa, where he featured in only one game as the side finished runners-up to Bangladesh. In the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal clash against Nagaland, Kushagra hit a knock of 266 runs, becoming the youngest batter to score 250-plus score and broke the 46-year-old record set by Pakistan batting legend Javed Miandad.

Earlier this year, Kushagra made 227 runs in five innings at a strike rate 109.13, including a fifty for East Zone. Later, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he smacked a 37-ball 67 for Jharkhand against Maharashtra, a knock which everyone believes got him in the sight of IPL scouts.

Shubham Dubey – base price of INR 20L, earns INR 5.8 crore deal with RR

A middle-order batter from Vidarbha, Dubey had come into the sight of IPL franchise scouts when he became the side’s designated finisher in this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In that competition, Dubey made 221 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 187.28, while batting at number five.

Dubey’s big-hitting skills were on full display when he came in as an Impact Player and hit a blazing 58 off just 20 balls against Bengal to help his side ace a record-run chase of 213, which is the most successful chase for Vidarbha in T20s.

With finishers being in hot demand at the auction, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals were in a tussle for left-handed batter Dubey’s services before the latter acquired his services for INR 5.8 crore.

Robin Minz – base price of INR 20L, earns INR 3.6 crore deal with GT

Late in the auction, there was sudden interest for Minz from four teams – Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans. Eventually, he was acquired by GT for a whopping INR 3.6 crore, considering the fact that Minz is yet to play senior T20 cricket.

Minz is a left-handed batter who hails from Gumla in Jharkhand and is the first tribal cricketer to be picked in the IPL. Though he is yet to make his senior cricket debut, Minz has played for Jharkhand U19 and U25 teams. A middle-order batter, Minz scored an unbeaten 73 off 35 deliveries playing in an invitational T20 tournament in Odisha earlier this year.

He was also taken on a Mumbai Indians’ tour of the United Kingdom in July along with other promising youngsters after being spotted by the scouts of the five-time championship winning team. Interestingly, one of his coaches is Chanchal Bhattacharya, who is also the childhood coach of MS Dhoni.

Other note-worthy mentions include Gujarat Titans taking young left-arm pacer Sushant Mishra for INR 2.2 crore and big-hitting all-rounder Shahrukh Khan for INR 7.4 crores, while also picking fast-bowler Kartik Tyagi for INR 60 lakh.

Left-arm fast-bowler Yash Dayal was acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 5 crore, while left-arm spinner M Siddharth was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2.4 crore. Delhi Capitals took all-rounder Sumit Kumar for INR 1 crore.

–IANS