Guwahati: Shreyas Iyer sparked a fierce five-way bidding war in the marquee set of the IPL 2022 auction before Kolkata Knight Riders snapped up his services with a winning bid of INR 12.25 crore.
The 27-year-old Iyer was expected to be a hot pick ahead of the auction with KKR predicted to fight for his services. They entered the bidding at INR 6.75 crore and staved off competition from Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans to land their target. The Knight Riders also re-signed Pat Cummins at a reduced price of INR 7.25 crore.
Whlie former Chennai Super Kings star Suresh Raina remained unsold on Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru on Saturday. His base price was Rs 2 crore. The exceptional all-rounder made it to the auction pool of the showpiece event for the first time after 2008.
Raina was picked by the Chennai-based franchise in the first-ever IPL auction, and since then, he has become one of the faces of the CSK. The news of the Indian cricketer being unsold has left cricket pundits and fans shell shocked.
Among franchises that also managed two signings from the marquee set were Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The former, who came in with the biggest pre-auction purse, roped in Shikhar Dhawan for INR 8.25 crore as well as Kagiso Rabada for INR 9.25 crore.
The Royals, on the hand, landed Trent Boult for INR 8 crore and R. Ashwin for INR 5 crore. Delhi Capitals, who had four of their former players in the marquee set, failed in their attempts to win back any of them. They did, however, land David Warner for INR 6.25 crore, lower than the INR 7 cr that Royal Challengers Bangalore paid for Faf du Plessis.
The two new franchises, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, broke their IPL auction ducks by signing Mohammed Shami (INR 6.25 cr) and Quinton de Kock (INR 6.75) respectively while the two most successful sides, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad made no signings from the marquee set.
