Indian players dominated the bidding wars on day one of the Indian Premier League mega auction 2018. KL Rahul and Manish Pandey laughed their way to the bank with multi-million dollar deals, but England all-rounder Ben Stokes once again emerged the costliest buy at Bengaluru on Saturday.
Despite being embroiled in some off-field controversies recently, Stokes was snapped up for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore. Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings also engaged in a fierce bidding war for the former Rising Pune Supergiant player. All-rounder Krunal Pandya, meanwhile, also earned a bumper contract with Mumbai Indians retaining him by paying nearly 22 times his base price. Big Bash League stars, Jofra Archer and big-hitting D’Arcy Short, also earned lucrative deals.
The franchises were smart in their choices with most of the current India players attracting significant interest. Rahul and middle-order batsman Pandey bagged deals worth Rs 11 crore from Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively. Here’s a complete list of what all squads look like:
