South African all-rounder Chris Morris emerged as the biggest winner in the initial round of the IPL auction in Chennai today, getting sold for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore to Rajasthan Royals. Morris entered the fray at a base price of Rs 75 lakh, but a bidding war between Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings saw the price hit the roof. He played for RCB last season.
Glenn Maxwell, too, sparked a major bidding war, with Chennai Super Kings and RCB going all out for the flambuoyant Australian all-rounder at the IPL 2021 auction in Chennai today. That latter, however, prevailed, picking up Maxwell for Rs 14.25 crore.
Maxwell, who was with the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) last season, was woefully out of form in IPL 2020, but made a strong comeback against India in the limited overs series that followed. He also had a decent outing in the Big Bash League.
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Earlier, former Aussie skipper Steve Smith was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 2.2 crore. He was released by Rajasthan Royals after a lacklustre outing last season.
England all-rounder Moeen Ali, too, was in demand as CSK and Punjab Kings made a strong pitch for him. In the end, it the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side that picked up Ali for Rs 7 crore.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, on the other hand, was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.2 crore, after a brief bidding between Punjab Kings and KKR.
A total of 292 players - 164 Indians, 125 overseas and three from associate nations - are set to go under the hammer with 61 slots in eight franchises.
RCB have the highest number of slots available - 13 - while Sunrisers Hyderabad have only three vacancies.
Punjab Kings go into the auction with the highest purse (Rs 53.1 crore) while SRH can spend a little less than 11 crore (10.75 crore). CSK will have an interesting auction with a 22.7 crore purse and seven slots to fill.