South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris became the most expensive player signed up for the Indian Premier League through the auction when Rajasthan Royals paid Rs 16.25 crore for him in Chennai on Thursday.

Among Indian players, Krishnappa Gowtham set a new record for an uncapped domestic player with his move to Chennai Super Kings, while Shivam Dube and Shahrukh Khan also attracted multi-crore bids.

IPL 2021 auction: From Chris Morris to Arjun Tendulkar, complete list of players signed up by teams

A host of stars picked up hefty contracts for the 10-week tournament that is scheduled to start in April and expected to be played in India.

The fee for the 33-year-old Morris smashed the record Rs 16 crore paid for Yuvraj Singh by Delhi in 2015. Australian bowler Pat Cummins had previously been the most expensive foreign player, when he went to KKR for IPL 2020.

The IPL clubs opened up their cheque books without worries about building for the long term, with the next auction set to be for a major squad reshuffle.

New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson went to Royal Challengers Bangalore for 20 times his start price at the auction. Bangalore also bought Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for big money after another bidding battle. Maxwell, 32, was released by Punjab Kings after last season.

Here are the squads of all eight teams and the list of players bought:

(Scroll sideways or swipe right to view all columns. Players added to squad are highlighted in bold.)

Chennai Super Kings

Reports of a rebuilding proved to be greatly exaggerated when CSK announced their retentions and this auction was always going to be about playing it safe with one or two additions. In Moeen Ali, they might have a much-needed power-hitting floater in their lineup and can be a top signing. Gowtham too will play a significant role with his finger-spin and big-hitting, two areas CSK are weak at.

CSK squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Suresh Raina Deepak Chahar MS Dhoni Dwayne Bravo
Ambati Rayudu KM Asif N Jagadeesan Mitchell Santner
Faf du Plessis Imran Tahir Ravindra Jadeja
Ruturaj Gaikwad Karn Sharma Sam Curran
Robin Uthappa (trade) Lungi Ngidi K Gowtham
Cheteshwar Pujara Shardul Thakur Moeen Ali
C Hari Nishaanth Josh Hazlewood K Bhagat Verma
R Sai Kishore
M Harisankar Reddy

Players bought by CSK at auction

CSK TYPE PRICE PAID
Krishnappa Gowtham All-Rounder Rs 92500000
Moeen Ali All-Rounder Rs 70000000
Cheteshwar Pujara Batsman Rs 5000000
K.Bhagath Varma All-Rounder Rs 2000000
C Hari Nishaanth Batsman Rs 2000000
M. Harisankar Reddy Bowler Rs 2000000

Delhi Capitals

Did the Delhi team need Steve Smith? Anchor-type batsmen is not exactly a problem area for the side. But when a player of that quality is available for Rs 2.2 crore, suppose the right decision would be go for it. It will perhaps be good to have Smith in the leadership group too. Otherwise the franchise focussed largely on getting uncapped Indian players in getting squad roles. Tom Curran and Umesh Yadav are good purchases to back-up their lead South African pacers, if they are not available early on.

DC squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Shreyas Iyer Amit Mishra Rishabh Pant Axar Patel
Ajinkya Rahane  Avesh Khan Sam Billings R Ashwin
Prithvi Shaw Ishant Sharma Vishnu Vinod Marcus Stoinis
Shikhar Dhawan Kagiso Rabada Lalit Yadav
Shimron Hetmyer Pravin Dubey Chris Woakes
Steve Smith Anrich Nortje Tom Curran
Umesh Yadav Ripal Patel
Lukman Meriwala
M Siddharth

Players bought by DC at auction

DC TYPE PRICE PAID
Tom Curran All-Rounder Rs 52500000
Steven Smith Batsman Rs 22000000
Sam Billings Wicket Keeper Rs 20000000
Umesh Yadav Bowler Rs 10000000
Ripal Patel All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Vishnu Vinod Wicket Keeper Rs 2000000
Lukman Hussain Meriwala Bowler Rs 2000000
M Siddharth Bowler Rs 2000000

Kolkata Knight Riders

Have KKR really improved their batting lineup from 2020? It’s hard to say. The team struggled for consistency with their batting performances and by adding only Karun Nair and Shakib Al Hasan, it does not feel like they have addressed that issue. Of course, if DreRuss finds form and Gill shines at the top, then they might still be alright. Harbhajan’s addition is a good one for the squad that needed a finger spinner. Shakib is a steal at the price they got him for, but his availability and where he fits in the XI is still up in the air.

KKR squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Eoin Morgan Kamlesh Nagarkoti Dinesh Karthik Andre Russell
Shubman Gill Kuldeep Yadav Sheldon Jackson Sunil Narine
Nitish Rana Lockie Ferguson Pat Cummins
Rinku Singh Prasidh Krishna Shakib Al Hasan
Rahul Tripathi Sandeep Warrier Ben Cutting
Karun Nair Shivam Mavi Pawan Negi
Varun Chakravarthy Venkatesh Iyer
Harbhajan Singh
Vaibhav Arora

Players bought by KKR at auction

KKR TYPE PRICE PAID
Shakib Al Hasan All-Rounder Rs 32000000
Harbhajan Singh Bowler Rs 20000000
Ben Cutting All-Rounder Rs 7500000
Karun Nair Batsman Rs 5000000
Pawan Negi All-Rounder Rs 5000000
Venkatesh Iyer All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Sheldon Jackson Wicket Keeper Rs 2000000
Vaibhav Arora Bowler Rs 2000000

Mumbai Indians

The defending champions had specific requirements after the players they released and they did a good job of taking care of that without going overboard. They were interested in Chris Morris and Jhye Richardson but went with Adam Milne and a return for Nathan Coulter-Nile, both good squad options. The addition of Piyush Chawla will keep Rahul Chahar on his toes. Arjun Tendulkar provides a left-arm option they like as well. The franchise is already talking up the potential of South African youngster Marco Jansen, that will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.

MI squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah Quinton de Kock Hardik Pandya
Suryakumar Yadav Jayant Yadav Ishan Kishan Krunal Pandya
Chris Lynn Rahul Chahar Aditya Tare Kieron Pollard
Saurabh Tiwary Trent Boult Anukul Roy
Anmolpreet Singh Dhawal Kulkarni James Neesham
Mohsin Khan Yudhvir Charak
Nathan Coulter-Nile Arjun Tendulkar
Adam Milne
Piyush Chawla
Marco Jansen

Players bought by MI at auction

MI TYPE PRICE PAID
Nathan Coulter-Nile Bowler Rs 50000000
Adam Milne Bowler Rs 32000000
Piyush Chawla Bowler Rs 24000000
James Neesham All-Rounder Rs 5000000
Yudhvir Charak All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Marco Jansen All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Arjun Tendulkar All-Rounder Rs 2000000

Punjab Kings

The team that was supposed to be the busiest, of course, ended up being the busiest but they perhaps did not quite enjoy the auction they would have hoped for. Chris Morris, especially, was a clear first-choice they had in mind and were pipped to it by Rajasthan Royals. When you consider they finished the night with a full quota of players and still nearly Rs 19 crore left in their purse, one cannot help but wonder if they could have used their funds better to get their primary targets. They stopped short for Moeen Ali and Shakib al Hasan too, among other big names. As things stand, Shahrukh Khan might just be the most important addition they made to their batting lineup on the day, for the first XI.

Ultimately, they picked up a few smart options in Fabian Allen, Dawid Malan and Jalaj Saxena. And when you consider the potential of Jhye Richardson, their bowling unit does have an improved look from last season. Still, whether that’s enough to end the wait for a title, remains to be seen. But it is not easy to say at the moment if PBKS had a good auction, given the potential they had.

PBKS squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Mayank Agarwal Mohammed Shami KL Rahul Deepak Hooda
Chris Gayle Arshdeep Singh Nicholas Pooran Sharukh Khan
Mandeep Singh Darshan Nalkande Prabhsimran Singh Moises Henriques
Sarfaraz Khan Hardeep Brar Fabian Allen
Dawid Malan M Ashwin Jalaj Saxena
Ishan Porel Saurabh Kumar
Ravi Bishnoi Utkarsh Singh
Chris Jordan
Jhye Richardson
Riley Meredith

Players bought by PBKS at auction

PBKS TYPE PRICE PAID
Jhye Richardson Bowler Rs 140000000
Riley Meredith Bowler Rs 80000000
Shahrukh Khan All-Rounder Rs 52500000
Moises Henriques All-Rounder Rs 42000000
Dawid Malan All-Rounder Rs 15000000
Fabian Allen All-Rounder Rs 7500000
Jalaj Saxena All-Rounder Rs 3000000
Saurabh Kumar All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Utkarsh Singh All-Rounder Rs 2000000

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The team that had the least work to do in the auction, did the least work as expected. The most interesting thing about their day was who they missed out on rather than who they picked up, with VVS Laxman saying that the franchise wanted Glenn Maxwell and saw slip him out of their price range (and then some.) Laxman also added that Shivam Dube was a target they missed out on and considering they ended the day with Rs 7 crore left in their kitty, it is another case of wondering whether they missed out on improving in areas where they had clear requirements. But, as such, Kedar Jadhav could still prove to be a shrewd acquisition for a top heavy side, if he can hit the ground running. Mujeeb is unlikely to feature heavily when Mohammad Nabi too doesn’t, while J Suchith is a good squad player to have.

SRH squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
David Warner Bhuvneshwar Kumar Jonny Bairstow Mohammad Nabi
Kane Williamson Rashid Khan Shreevats Goswami Abhishek Sharma
Manish Pandey Sandeep Sharma Wriddhiman Saha Vijay Shankar
Virat Singh T Natarajan Mitchell Marsh
Priyam Garg Basil Thampi Jason Holder
Abdul Samad Shahbaz Nadeem
Kedar Jadhav Siddharth Kaul
Khaleel Ahmed
Mujeeb Zadran
J Suchith

Players bought by SRH at auction

SRH TYPE PRICE PAID
Kedar Jadhav All-Rounder Rs 20000000
Mujeeb Zadran Bowler Rs 15000000
J Suchith Bowler Rs 3000000

Rajasthan Royals

A side that was light on batsmen and struggled for consistency throughout 2020, released their captain and traded their senior Indian opener, somehow managed to not add a single first-choice option to the squad after the auction. Spending Rs 16.25 crore on Morris is keeping in with their recent trend of going hard after one big name signing, but it has not paid off on the field for Royals, so why persist with that? Make no mistake, Morris improves their bowling attack and it was an area that cried out for improvement and Archer would be delighted to see quality company. And Mustafizur too is a good signing and a steal. The pace unit looks more threatening, with Dube adding strength to the middle order as well.

But does that batting unit look capable of reaching the playoffs if either of Buttler or Stokes or Samson do not fire every single game?

RR squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Yashasvi Jaiswal Jofra Archer Sanju Samson Ben Stokes
Mahipal Lomror Mayank Markande Jos Buttler Rahul Tewatia
Manan Vohra Shreyas Gopal Anuj Rawat Chris Morris
Riyan Parag Jaydev Unadkat Shivam Dube
David Miller Kartik Tyagi Liam Livingstone

AJ Tye
Chetan Sakariya
Mustafizur Rahman
KC Cariappa
Akash Singh
Kuldip Yadav

Players bought by RR at auction

RR TYPE PRICE PAID
Christopher Morris All-Rounder Rs 162500000
Shivam Dube All-Rounder Rs 44000000
Chetan Sakariya Bowler Rs 12000000
Mustafizur Rahman Bowler Rs 10000000
Liam Livingstone All-Rounder Rs 7500000
K.C Cariappa Bowler Rs 2000000
Akash Singh Bowler Rs 2000000
Kuldip Yadav Bowler Rs 2000000

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The supply-demand aspect of the IPL auction is often brought up, especially when it’s a mini-auction. And it is usually brought up by the team that has spent over the top on a player (or two) as a reasoning for doing so.

Petrol and Maxwell get expensive every year: Reactions to RCB bagging all-rounder in IPL Auctions

And so, at the auction for IPL 2021, the word was mostly associated with RCB who splurged nearly Rs 30 crore on two players. One an enigma wrapped in a mystery, in the form of Maxwell. The other a rookie who just had a breakthrough season and with no international experience outside New Zealand, in the form of Kyle Jamieson. It’s all well and good insisting that these were dictated by the dynamics of the auction, but surely this couldn’t have been a part of their detailed planning process? Surely they cannot justify such an outlay on two risky signings when the squad is anything but complete? Surely it did not make sense to go up Rs 9.75 crore for Chris Morris after releasing him for Rs 10 crore and commenting openly about how his injury worries cost them last season? Surely all this combined cannot be part of some elaborate masterplan?

They brought in an in-form, shrewd performer like Dan Christian and he is a trophy magnet. In pairing up Sachin-Azhar, they have gone retro but with good reason to back domestic talent. And yes, Maxwell (if he clicks) will improve their batting and yes, Jamieson is an exciting talent.

But the question is: were these smart moves dictated by data? Or punts built on hope?

You can read more here about the economics of Maxwell’s pricing at the IPL auctions.

RCB squad after IPL 2021 auction

Batsmen Bowlers Wicketkeepers Allrounders
Virat Kohli Mohammed Siraj AB de Villiers Washington Sundar
Devdutt Padikkal Navdeep Saini Josh Phillipe Harshal Patel (trade)
Pavan Deshpande  Yuzvendra Chahal Mohammed Azharuddeen Daniel Sams (trade)
Sachin Baby Pavan Deshpande Kona Srikar Bharat Kyle Jamieson
Rajat Patidar Shahbaz Ahmed Glenn Maxwell
Adam Zampa Dan Christian
Kane Richardson Suyash Prabhudesai

Players bought by RCB at auction

RCB TYPE PRICE PAID
Kyle Jamieson All-Rounder Rs 150000000
Glenn Maxwell All-Rounder Rs 142500000
Dan Christian All-Rounder Rs 48000000
Sachin Baby Batsman Rs 2000000
Rajat Patidar Batsman Rs 2000000
Mohammed Azharuddeen Wicket Keeper Rs 2000000
Suyash Prabhudesai All-Rounder Rs 2000000
Kona Srikar Bharat Wicket Keeper Rs 2000000

Also read:

The Maxwell problem: The warped logic of the IPL auction and how it may impact team dynamics

IPL 2021 auction takeaways: Glenn Maxwell, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shahrukh Khan and more

Players who went for more than twice base price

Full name Country Category C/U/A Base price (Rs lakh) Bid made(Rs lakh) Times over base price New team
K Gowtham India AR Uncapped 20 925 46.25 CSK
Shahrukh Khan India AR Uncapped 20 525 26.25 PBKS
Chris Morris South Africa AR Capped 75 1625 21.67 RR
Riley Meredith Australia Bowl Uncapped 40 800 20.00 PBKS
Kyle Jamieson New Zealand AR Capped 75 1500 20.00 RCB
Jhye Richardson Australia Bowl Capped 150 1400 9.33 PBKS
Shivam Dube India AR Capped 50 440 8.80 RR
Glenn Maxwell Australia AR Capped 200 1425 7.13 RCB
Adam Milne New Zealand Bowl Capped 50 320 6.40 MI
Daniel Christian Australia AR Capped 75 480 6.40 RCB
Chetan Sakariya India Bowl Uncapped 20 120 6.00 RR
Piyush Chawla India Bowl Capped 50 240 4.80 MI
Moises Henriques Australia AR Capped 100 420 4.20 PBKS
Moeen Ali England AR Capped 200 700 3.50 CSK
Tom Curran England AR Capped 150 525 3.50 DC
Nathan Coulter‐Nile Australia Bowl Capped 150 500 3.33 MI