IPL 2020 auction as it happened: Cummins goes to KKR for record bid, KXIP name KL Rahul as captain

9.30 pm: That will be all from us for the live blog. Stay tuned for the breakdown of squads and other analysis.

9.11 pm: Here’s the full list of players (62) bought at the IPL 2020 auction:

9.08 pm: It’s a big call from KXIP to turn to Rahul to lead the side. The question now is will captaincy do to Rahul what it did for Rohit and Virat?

9.05 pm: THIS JUST IN! KL Rahul is confirmed as the KXIP captain by Anil Kumble.

8.45 pm: Final round, and only 9 names come up. Dale Steyn finds a team while Kesrick Williams doesn’t.

DALE STEYN RETURNS TO RCB, AGAIN! At his base price of Rs 2 crores. Good move? 

AJ TYE goes to Royals for Rs 1 crore.

Delhi’s Lalit Yadav goes to Delhi for Rs 20 lakhs. 

Shahbaz Ahamad goes to RCB for 20 lakhs.

Nikhil Naik, wicket-keeper, goes to KKR for Rs 20 lakhs.

Tom Curran to Royals for Rs 1 crore.

Isuru Udana goes to RCB for Rs 50 lakhs.

Kesrick Williams returns and doesn’t look like he will get a bid.

Vinay Kumar is the final name, and no takers. Unsold. 

8.44 pm: The auctioneer announces that there are 10 players to come up in the final, final set.

8.42 pm: RCB still have only 18 players in their squad. They have around Rs 9.1 crore still remaining in their purse. Who should they go for? Virat Kohli did say they will cover all the bases.

8.36 pm: Here’s a look at the status of the teams.

CSK are done, with one slot remaining but not enough money left to buy. KXIP and SRH have a full squad with plenty of dough left in the purse.

8.30 pm: Well done, Bumrah. Strong social media game.

8.27 pm: Letting CDG, Cutting unsold and driving up the price of Stoinis. Another to be filed under “what on earth” as DC get Stoinis. We will be now back for what should be one final round of bidding.

8.22 pm: Teams now trying to pick up Stoinis on the cheap. RR and DC go for their man...the former makes a sad emoji face for the bidding war. Hope Stoinis is not watching this. Reluctantly bidding, the teams have driven the price up to Rs 2.8 crores now!!!

8.22 pm: Tushar Deshpande, R Sai Kishore find takers: DC, CSK. Interesting call from CSK to add another spinner to their squad but this is a quality recruitment.

8.20 pm: Prabsimran Singh is coming back with a bang. Sort of. The young WK gets bids from DC and KXIP, the latter get their man back from the auction. Rs 55 lakhs is a good price, one thinks.

8.18 pm: Dale Steyn goes unsold again but Mohit Sharma has a team, picked up by DC. Big surprise to see Rohan Kadam go unsold again. No takers for Shahurkh Khan too. SMAT-2019 not playing a role in any of the teams’ plans by the looks of it.

8.15 pm: CDG, Kusal Perera, Tye are among the name being brought back and they go unsold.

8.12 pm: LIGHTNING SPEED AUCTION AT THE MOMENT! Biggest updates in terms of tweets below and there is a bit of a surprise with no takers for Kesrick Williams.

8.07 pm: FORTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PRAVEEN TAMBE HAS A BIDDER! Claps in the auction room as KKR get him for base price, “age doesn’t” says the auctioneer. Wow!

7.59 pm: Kane Richardson getting interest from Royals and RCB. Crossed Rs 3 crore now from a base of 1.5. And gets Rs 4 crores from RCB! File that under “What on earth!” as well.

7.57 pm: Chris Jordan goes to KXIP for Rs 3 crore. Nice addition to their ranks. Hi5s at the desk.

7.55 pm: Tom Curran and Jason Holder go unsold. A bidding war for Chris Jordan, a superb death bowler. RCB and KXIP are going hard at it. DC might join in too.

7.54 pm: Baz is utterly shocked at getting Tom Banton for Rs 1 crore! That reaction was something else. SRH pick up Fabian Allen Rs 50 lakhs.

7.52 pm: Speed is picking up...

Chris Green was predicted to attract interest and he does find a taker in Baz.

KKR sign up the Australian all-rounder for Rs 20 lakh.

Among wicket-keepers, RCB pick up Australian Joshua Phillippe at Rs 20 lakh as well.

Left-arm seaemer Mohsin Khan goes to MI at base price.

7.47 pm: The accelerated bidding is underway. SRH get Sandeep Bavanaka. Will RCB show interest in, you know, getting players to their squad? Let’s see.

7.45 pm: Chris Lynn’s tweet from earlier has tough competition for the tweet of the auction day! Well played, cricket.com.au.

7.35 pm: Hetmyer is excited alright!

7.21 pm: Here’s the complete list of players bought in the first session of the auction:

7.20 pm: Zubin Bharucha- Head of Cricket at Rajasthan Royals

On Jaydev Unadkat, “We are really pleased to have Jaydev back in our squad for the upcoming season. We could not retain him, and had planned to get him back, and I’m really happy to once again have him in the team. He was the only experienced Indian pacer available at the Auction, and after a tough bidding battle, we managed to get him. His performances during the latter stages of the IPL last season were brilliant as he helped us win matches, including a man of the match performance against Sunrisers, and he had been working with us on various aspects of his game during the off-season. He knows the franchise inside-out, therefore we are really looking forward to have him help our team again.”

On Robin Uthappa- “He has always been on our radar ever since he joined KKR, and has performed exceedingly well for them over the past six seasons. He has been a part of their title-winning seasons, and we look forward to him bringing his experience to our team. He is a fantastic batsman, and can keep wickets also, therefore he is quite a utility player when it comes to the IPL. We look forward to him being a crucial part of the Rajasthan Royals’ set-up, and we want to make sure he is up to speed and settles into the team so that he can be a part of the first XI. We are quite pleased to have him in our side, and would like to welcome him to the Royals’ family.

7.15 pm: The big buys of the day so far: Morris, Maxwell and Cummins. Watch the bidding in case you missed it.

7.13 pm: Three Australians in the top five buys of the day so far.

7.10 pm: One of the stories of the day has to be Jaiswal’s capture by Royals.

6.45 pm: END OF THE FIRST SESSION! Some crazy bids we have witnessed, in my book. Still trying to wrap my head around it as we head into an hour’s break before the accelerated session starts next. Stay tuned for recap of what we saw earlier.

6.42 pm: CSK have their Ben Hilfenhaus / Doug Bollinger for the next season. Josh Hazlewood comes to CSK for Rs 2 crores.

6.40 pm: Pacers next. Nortje, Sran, Wood, Joseph (IPL record holder!), The Fizz go unsold.

6.39 pm: Gayle, Cottrell and Neesham in the side. KXIP are going to be the most entertaining side on and off the pitch next season.

6.36 pm: Chants of “Jimmy, Jimmy” in the newsroom as Neesham’s name comes up. And he will play in the IPL this year as KXIP get him for Rs 50 lakh! A shrewd piece of business.

6.33 pm: Mitch Marsh DOES GET A BID AT RS 2 CRORES! This day keeps surprising. SRH get the overseas all-rounder they needed but surely better options were coming?

6.32 pm: All-rounders next. This should be interesting. Brathwaite goes unsold first up. As does Stoinis.

6.31 pm: Guptill, not for the first time, goes unsold in the auction.

6.29 pm: After missing out on a big bid for Hetmyer, Royals get David Miller for Rs 75 lakhs. Saurabh Tiwary then goes to Mumbai for Rs 50L. Manoj Tiwary is unsold. Colin Ingram is unsold.

6.22 pm: High-fives in the DELHI CAPITALS table! Shimron Hetmyer goes to DC for Rs 7.75 lakhs. Came in late and got their man from Royals.

6.22 pm: WOW. We have crossed Rs 7 crores for Hetmyer! Do not understand why Royals want him so badly while DC would be a good fit for him.

6.22 pm: Delhi enter late for Hetmyer and we are past Rs 4 crores for Hetmyer after very cautious early bidding.

6.19 pm: We are back for auction and first up, SHIMRON HETMYER. He almost went unsold and then Royals and KKR have started a bidding war.

6.17 pm: In case you missed it, here is the bidding war for Pat Cummins as he became the costliest overseas player in the history of the IPL.

6.12 pm: A good day for some of the uncapped Indian players.

6.10 pm: Tweet of the day!

6.03 pm: Noor Ahmad the 14-year-old from Afghanistan is unsold and the highest wicket-taker in SMAT-2019 R Sai Kishore has no takers too. That’s a surprise, I think but cannot help but think that is a case of auction dynamics with Siddharth benefitting from his name appearing earlier.

6.00 pm: Ravi Bishnoi is generating quite the interest. MI need a spinner and they are going big for him against KXIP. Kumble gets his man for Rs 2 crore.

5.57 pm: Uncapped spinners next. Siddharth, a young TN spinner who impressed at SMAT-2019, goes to KKR for Rs 20 lakhs.

5.55 pm: Kartik Tyagi goes to Royals for Rs 1.30 crore. Ishan Porel next and KXIP get him for the base price!! The camp is really quite pleased with that. That is indeed quite a steal.

5.51 pm: Fast bowlers next. Akash Singh goes to Royals for Rs 20 lakhs. Kulwant Khejroliya goes unsold. Mumbai’s Tushar Deshpande also has no takers.

5.50 pm: All other wicket-keepers go unsold in that set, including Prabhsimran Singh who has been rated highly.

5.49 pm: Yashasvi Jaiwal’s journey is quite incredible.

5.46 pm: Wicket-keepers up next and it’s Anuj Rawat generating interest. Goes to Royals for Rs 80 lakhs.

5.44 pm: No takers for Shahrukh Khan, not even from KKR, disappointing headline-writers around the country.

5.42 pm: Good day for young Yashasvi! Rs 2.40 crore he fetches as Royals come in late and get their man.

5.40 pm: MI showing interest on local lad Yashasvi Jaiswal but pull out. Now KKR and KXIP bidding for the youngster. Crossed Rs 1.8 crore.

5.38 pm: Rs 4 crore for Varun this time! And he goes to the land of mystery spinners. KKR get their man.

5.37 pm: Varun Chakravarthy, the headline-maker from last season is once again generating interest. More than Rs 3 crore now with RCB and KKR going hard with the bidding.

5.36 pm: All-rounders this time and Deepak Hooda goes to KXIP for Rs 50 lakh from his base price of Rs 40 lakhs. DC showed interest,

5.34 pm: India’s U-19 captain at the upcoming World Cup goes to SRH for Rs 1.9 crore.

5.31 pm: As expected Virat Singh is getting plenty of interest. SRH finally make their bids at the auction and get him for Rs 1.9 crore.

5:30 pm: Kolkata Knight Riders get Rahul Tripathi for Rs 60 lakh after RCB pull out. KKR’s day keeps getting better.

5:28 pm: Maharashtra batsman Rahul Tripathi is getting bids. KKR and RCB have placed expressed their interest.

5:27 pm: Rohan Kadam’s base price is Rs 20 lakh and he too goes unsold. Not a good day for the young Indian players so far. Harpreet Bhatia also goes unsold, whose starting price was for the same rate.

5:25 pm: We are back again and India U-19 World Cup winner Manjot Kalra goes under the hammer......and he goes unsold. That came as a bit of a surprise.

5.22 pm: Bringing in a 30-year-old legspinner (Chawla) to be a back-up for a 40-year-old legspinner (Tahir) is the most CSK thing ever. Back with more updates soon.

5.18 pm: Other spinners in the list go unsold: Adam Zampa, Hayden Walsh, Zahir Khan, Ish Sodhi. Time for a break as we go wonder about our life-choices when Piyush Chawla can get a bid for Rs 6.75 crore at 30 years old.

5.12 pm: Spinners now and first up is Piyush Chawla. Goes to CSK for Rs 6.75 crore after a bidding war with KXIP. Of course, a 30-year-old.

5.09 pm: SALUTES TO BE SEEN IN MOHALI. Cottrell to KXIP after a bidding war with DC. Goes for Rs 8.5 crore.

5.06 pm: Southee goes unsold and now it’s Cottrell time! DC and KXIP going hard at this one.

5.03 pm: I don’t believe this. Usually very shrewd at the auctions, MI just went and bought Coulter-Nile for Rs 8 crore.

5.03 pm: Holy wow. Rs 7 crore and counting for NCN!

5.00 pm: First CHENNAI VS MUMBAI battle of the season and this one is a fierce bidding war for Nathan Coulter-Nile.

4.59 pm: UNADKAT TO ROYALS AGAIN! This time for Rs 3 crores. Previously, he had gone to RR for Rs 11.5 crore and Rs 8.40 crore.

4.56 pm: RR, DC and KXIP are bidding for Unadkat. Just before this, Steyn went unsold. Too high a base price, too much of a risk despite his good shows in MSL.

4.55 pm: Mohit Sharma goes unsold and now.... it’s Jayadev Unadkat time!

4.54 pm: Kusal Perera, Shai Hope also go unsold and we now move on to pace bowlers.

4.51 pm: Klaasen and Rahim go unsold. Have always wondered why teams don’t back Rahim but that is for another time. Naman Ojha also unsold.

4.50 pm: Delhi Capitals come in late for Carey and get their man for Rs 2.4 crore. Pulled one over RR and RCB.

4.49 pm: As we cross Rs 2 crore for Carey, a look at the purse remaining.

4.45 pm: We are back... wicket-keepers now. Alex Carey first.

4.42 pm: A team-by-team recap:

CSK: Sam Curran

DC: Jason Roy, Chris Woakes

KXIP: Glenn Maxwell

KKR: Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan

MI: Chris Lynn

RR: Robin Uthappa

RCB: Chris Morris, Aaron Finch

4.40 pm: First Nayyar now Baz, confirming that DK will remain KKR captain.

4.34 pm: Sanjay Bangar saying that Kumble was interested in getting Maxwell on a trade from KXIP when he was in charge of MI as well. Interesting background information. Is Kumble looking at Maxwell as a captaincy option, perhaps? A left-field call.

4.32 pm: My quick take on what we saw so far. Expected them to top the charts but absolutely cannot understand the amount that was spent on Morris, Cummins and Maxwell. Super bizarre strategies from RCB, most of all. If they had got Cummins, they would have exhausted more than half the budget on one player.

4.27 pm: A break in proceedings now. Abhisek Nayyar (KKR assistant coach) says DK is still their captain despite bringing Eoin Morgan on board.

4.25 pm: Second set of players...

4.23 pm: Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins and Chris Morris have crossed Rs 10 crore. Cummins becomes the most expensive overseas buy at the auction. Unbelievable, if you ask me.

4.22 pm: Stuart Binny goes unsold. If Morris is worth Rs 10 crore, this is harsh. IPL is funny business.

4.20 pm: Mumbai Indians have entered the race for Chris Morris but RCB get their man for Rs 10 crore.

4.18 pm: Chris Morris, as expected, attracting attention. RCB and KXIP are going at it this time. Rs 6 crore has been crossed.

4.15 pm: CSK have their man! At Rs 5.5 crore, CSK have Sam Curran like many predicted.

4.13 pm: Sam Curran next. CSK make their presence felt!

4.10 pm: Correction, RCB thought they had Cummins and now KKR have gone in at Rs 15.5 crore. KKR have Pat Cummins once again, for a whopping Rs 15.50 crores.

4.10 pm: Rs 14.75 crore! THIS IS MADNESS. Delhi Capitals thought they had their man and then.... KKR COME IN!

4.06 pm: We have crossed RS 11 crore for Pat Cummins!

4.05 pm: Already at Rs 7 crore for Pat Cummins! Who is in the all-rounder category, in case you missed. RCB and DC going hard at it.

4.03 pm: Yusuf Pathan goes unsold. Colin de Grandhomme unsold.

4.01 pm: DC get their second Englishman at base price. Chris Woakes goes to the Capitals.

3.59 pm: GLENN MAXWELL TO KXIP FOR Rs 10.75 CRORE!

3.58 pm: Rs 9.75 crore....and Rs 10 crore! Delhi Capitals are making it very hard for KXIP to get their man. Surely, Punjab would not have thought it would go this high. Maxwell is a wanted man.

First set recap:

3.54 pm: Ricky Ponting must really want Maxwell. But Kumble and Co not giving up. Rs 7 crore and counting!

3.52 pm: Glenn Maxwell time! Bidding war between KXIP and DC. And we have already crossed Rs 4.20 crore.

3.50 pm: We have crossed Rs 4 crore and it is KKR and RCB who are going at it for Finch. Hesson and Co get their man for Rs 4.40 crore. Once again, KXIP were not interested. They must have decided to go with Rahul as captain.

3.46 pm: Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch up next. A subdued round of bidding so far it must be said, will Finch go for big money? KKR and RCB are interested.

3.45 pm: Jason Roy to Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 1.5 crores.

3.44 pm: Hanuma Vihari next. First player to go unsold on the day. Cheteshwar Pujara follows and not surprisingly, goes unsold as well.

3.42 pm: Robin Uthappa goes to RR for Rs 3 crore.

3.40 pm: Interestingly KXIP did not even enter the bidding war for Morgan who goes to KKR for Rs 5.25 crore.

3.39 pm: A bidding war between Delhi and Kolkata for Eoin Morgan

3.38 pm: WOW. JUST ONE BID FOR CHRIS LYNN! He goes to Mumbai Indians for his base price of Rs 2 crore.

3.37 pm: First set...first up is Chris Lynn.

3.35 pm: The welcome address is underway... we will begin soon. Hugh Edmeades will be the auctioneer again.

As is usually the trend, the teams well-placed with their squad chose to retain the bulk of their players. The two finalists from 2019 season (Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians) and the ever-consistent Sunrisers Hyderabad have the fewest slots remaining to fill in their squads. Struggling teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders are looking at another revamp. Interestingly, Delhi Capitals have opted to rebuild their squad as well despite ending their wait to enter the playoffs last season.

3.25 pm: Second set of players to go under auction will be all-rounders. Some big money bids expected here.

3.21 pm: Here’s the first set of players up for grabs. Except KXIP to go hard at Eoin Morgan or Aaron Finch.

3.14 pm: As it so often is the case, the initial spotlight will be on overseas swashbucklers from the West Indies and Australia even if some lesser-known youngsters could walk away with the big deals at the end of the day.

A look at the overseas stars who will attract the interests of bidding teams in the auction hall: read here.

3.12 pm: The Indian Premier League auction on December 19 will see teams bidding for more than 300 players to fill up 73 slots (with 29 of those for overseas players). This is a mini-auction with some teams opting to retain bulk of their side while a few have opted for a revamp. The auction for IPL 2021 will offer teams a chance to reset their squads so this year, it will be about preparing for just the upcoming season and not exactly looking at the long haul. In this series, we took a look at what teams need for the upcoming season.

2.58 pm: Seven overseas players have been listed at the highest base price of Rs 2 crores in the player auction list for Indian Premier League 2020 season a total of 330-plus cricketers set to go under the hammer in Kolkata on December 19th, 2019.

UPDATE: R Vinay Kumar, Ashoke Dinda, Matthew Wade, Sanjay Yadav, Robin Bist, and Jake Weatherald have been added to the list of players available to go with the 332 shortlisted earlier.

2.50 pm: Two days before the auctions, to be held in Kolkata, Virat Kohli had a message for all RCB fans.

“We’ve had a few discussions to build a team around, strong core that we already have and we assure you that we are going to cover all the bases that are required and build a very strong team to have a really good season in 2020,” Kohli said in a video message.

“So, as I said get behind the team and your support has always been priceless for us and will be crucial forever and ever till we play the sport. So, thank you very much, and looking forward to the auction. Find out what’s going to happen on December 19,” he said.

2.43 pm: Here’s a look at the purse details for the teams:

2.30 pm: Many of the world’s top cricketers will be among 330-plus players going under the hammer when the Indian Premier League holds its auction on Thursday for the 2020 season.

Most teams will be looking for very specific talents but some like the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab may need to get serious if they want to be competitive in the coming season.

Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians have most slots sorted but they always tend to make interesting buys to consolidate their position. Rajasthan Royals have usually kept a tight leash on their budget but have recently shown an inclination to bid big, so expect them to play dark horses.

Kolkata Knight Riders also have quite a few holes to fill with some old hands moving on.

Previews: What the eight teams are looking for at the IPL auction. Read here.