Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar earn massive paydays on day 1 of the 2022 IPL auction

Ishan Kishan became the second-most expensive Indian player in history to be bought in the IPL auction as the Mumbai Indians re-signed the 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman for a whopping bid of INR 15.25 crore on the opening day of the 2022 IPL mega auction.

The 23-year-old batter was the only headline buy for the five-time champions on day one of the auction, with Mumbai signing only three other players to their roster, including U-19 World Cup star Dewald Brevis (INR 3 crores), Murugan Ashwin (INR 1.6 crores) and Basil Thampi (INR 30 lakhs).

Kishan was one of 74 players to be bought by the ten IPL teams on day one of the IPL auction and was amongst a group of ten players that fetched winning bids of INR 10 crores or higher. Shreyas Iyer was the first player to break the INR 10 crores barrier as KKR spent INR 12.25 crores on the Indian batsman before Chennai grabbed Deepak Chahar for an eye-watering sum of INR 14 crores.

Chahar was one of four players from the starting XI of the 2021 IPL final that Chennai was able to buy back at the auction, with MS Dhoni’s side also signing Robin Uthappa (INR 2 crores), Dwayne Bravo (INR 4.4 crores) and batter Ambati Rayudu (INR 6.75 crores).

Four players received bids of INR 10.75 crores on day one, with Delhi picking up Shardul Thakur, Hyderabad signing West Indian Nicholas Pooran, and RCB bringing back two players from their 2021 squad – Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga – for that price.

The other marquee buys from the day’s bidding included Avesh Khan – who became the most expensive uncapped player to be sold at an IPL auction at INR 10 crores – along with pacers Lockie Ferguson (INR 10 crores), Prasidh Krishna (INR 10 crores) and Kagiso Rabada (INR 9.25 crores).

Indian all-rounders were also in high demand at the auction on day one, with Rahul Tewatia (INR 9 crores), Washington Sundar (8.75 crores), Jason Holder (INR 8.75 crores), Krunal Pandya (8.25 crores) and Nitish Rana (INR 8 crore) all receiving substantial bids.

The Punjab Kings started the day with the biggest auction purse and spent their money heavily on the marquee set of players, adding Shikhar Dhawan (INR 8.25 crores), Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow (INR 6.75 crores) and Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan (INR 9 crores) to their squad.

Amongst other headline players, KKR bought back Pat Cummins for INR 7.25 crores, Delhi added T20 World Cup-winning stars David Warner (INR 6.25 crores) and Mitchell Marsh (INR 6.5 crores), while Rajasthan Royals added Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin to their squad for a combined price of INR 11.5 crores.

While plenty of dreams came true on the opening day of the auction, some notable names remained unsold, with Suresh Raina, Steve Smith, Imran Tahir and Adil Rashid attracting no bidders.

The opening day was also not short of drama, as in an unfortunate situation auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed on stage and fell from his dais during the bidding of Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. The Englishman was immediately attended to by the medical staff on-site and was understood to be fine, having suffered from postural hypotension according to the BCCI.

After a break of over an hour, the auction resumed, with broadcaster Charu Sharma taking over the proceedings for the rest of the day.