Railways all-rounder Karn Sharma hit the jackpot at the IPl players' auction, becoming the costliest buy among the uncapped players by fetching a startling Rs 3.75 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Rishi Dhawan also fetched a stunning Rs 3 crore bid from Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.
On a low-key second day of the auction, former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor, who had surprisingly gone unsold on the opening day, finally found a buyer as Delhi Daredevils snapped him for his base price of Rs 2 crore. However, stalwarts like former Sri lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, West Indian all-rounder Marlon Samuels, Australian all-rounders Cameron White and David Hussey, and New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill were once again snubbed by the franchises despite being requested back into the auction pool after being unsold on Wednesday.
If Yuvraj Singh's 14-crore deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday stunned many, some of the bidding for uncapped players, included in the auction for the first time to prevent under-hand deals, was equally mind-boggling. Among the big gainers was Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav who clinched a two-crore contract with Delhi Daredevils, a huge reward for his smashing form in the Ranji Trophy.
The other big winners were Rajat Bhatia (Rs 1.70 crore, Rajasthan Royals), Manish Pandey (Rs 1.70 crore Kolkata Knight Riders), Aditya Tare (Rs 1.60 crore, Mumbai Indians), K l Rahul (Rs 1 crore, Sunrisers Hyderabad), Ishwar Pandey (Rs 1.50 crore, Chennai Super Kings), Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 1.30 crore, Kings XI Punjab), Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs 1.10 crore, Rajasthan Royals and Parveez Rasool (Rs 95 lakh, Sunrisers Hyderabad).