New Delhi:
Jaydev Unadkat has enjoyed IPL Auctions for the last couple of seasons. In the previous year, he was one of the record buys for Rajasthan Royals and heading into the auction, he was the highest priced Indian player with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. However, he was once again involved in a major bidding war as he became the most expensive buy so far in the 2019 Indian Premier League auctions when he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping Rs 8.4 crore. Rajasthan Royals were involved in a major bidding war with Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab but in the end, Unadkat, who was released by the franchise last year, will once again don the Royals’ jersey.
In the 2018 auction, Unadkat became the most expensive Indian player after Rajasthan Royals got him for Rs 11.50 crore. In 2017, the left-armer was one of the star performers in the IPL when he picked up over 20 wickets, including a five-wicket haul as he helped Rising Pune Supergiant enter 2017 final where they lost to Mumbai Indians by one run.
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It was a great day for the Indian pace bowlers as most of them went for big sums. Mohammed Shami, who picked up his career-best haul of 6/56 in the Perth Test against Australia, went to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 4.8 crore. Axar Patel, who had played a vital role for Kings XI Punjab in the 2014 edition of the Indian Premier League, went to Delhi Capitals for Rs 5 crore. Mohit Sharma was reunited with Chennai Super Kings for Rs 5 crore. Mohit had put in some magnificent performances with Dhoni’s side in the 2014 and 2015 editions.
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The Indian pace bowlers continued to be in high demand. Varun Aaron, who had gone unsold in the auction several years ago, made a magnificent comeback when he went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 2.4 crore. Ishant Sharma, who was also not picked by any franchise last year, came back to his hometown Delhi as he was picked by the Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.1 crore.
