IPL Auction 2019: Mumbai Indians Lifeline For Yuvraj Singh; Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy Top Buys

Yuvraj Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy and Sam Curran turned out to be
highlights of the Indian Premier League 2019 auction, which was held in Jaipur on December 18. Yuvraj, who was released by the Kings XI Punjab earlier this year, has been lapped up by Mumbai Indians for his base price of Rs 1 crore. And Jaydev Unadkat and uncapped 27-year-old Varun Chakravarthy bagged Rs 8.4 crore each. While Unadkat was retained by the Rajasthan Royals, Chakravarthy was lapped up by the Kings XI Punjab. England cricketer Sam Curran, meanwhile, became the most expensive overseas player, bought for Rs 7.2 crore by Kings XI Punjab.

Unadkat grabbed eye-balls last season when he became the highest paid Indian after being bought by the same franchise for a whopping Rs 11.5 crore. Uncapped player Shivam Dube attracted a lot of attention as he was picked for Rs 5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) while the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bagged pacer Mohit Sharma for the same price.

Mumbai all-rounder Dube had on Monday peeled off five sixes in five balls off left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh on the final day of their Ranji Trophy match against Baroda.

The Rajasthan Royals also bought Varun Aaron for Rs 2.40 crore. After buying back Sri Lankan veteran Lasith Malinga for Rs 2 crore, Mumbai Indians got the services of left-armer Barinder Sran for Rs 3.4 crore.

Delhi Capitals bought veteran Ishant Sharma for Rs 1.1 crore before splurging Rs 6.4 crore for New Zealand hard-hitter Colin Ingram. Earlier, Axar Patel was also bought for Rs 5 crore by the Delhi franchise.

Delhi also bought all-rounder Hanuma Vihari for Rs 2 crore while West Indians Shimron Hetmyer and Nicolas Pooran were bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab, respectively for Rs 4.2 crore.

Another Caribbean star Carlos Brathwaite went for Rs 5 crore to the Kolkata Knight Riders.

KXIP also bagged the services of Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques for Rs 1 crore while the Sunrisers Hyderabad spent Rs 2.2 crore for English wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow and Rs 1.2 crore for India's Test stumper Wriddhiman Saha.

Teenagers' Day Out

Little-known Indian teenagers Prabhsimran Singh and Prayas Ray Barman attracted astonishing bids during the IPL auction to laugh their way to the bank on a day when superstar Dale Steyn went unsold and once a hot-property Yuvraj Singh struggled to find a buyer.    

Punjab's wicket keeper batsman Prabhsimran, all of 18, was taken by the Preity Zinta-owned Kings XI Punjab for Rs 4.80 crore while the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore shelled out Rs 1.5 crore for 16-year-old Barman, who is an all-rounder from Bengal. Both the players had a base price of Rs 20 lakh.  The intense bidding for the two youngsters showed that the teams were willing to loosen purse strings for talent and not just the names. Prabsimran has played only four List A matches and was part of the Indian team which finished a runner-up at the recent ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. The Punjab batsman idolises explosive Virender Sehwag.

The attacking batsman scored 298 runs for his side in the Under-23 tournament. In the Cooch Behar trophy in season 2017-18, he scored 547 runs for Punjab, hitting three centuries. "I am glad I was picked by the Punjab side. I would give my best to win matches for my side and do well this season," said Singh. Barman, a leg-break bowler, is just nine Last A game old but was very impressive during the Vjjay Hazare Trophy.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Rasikh Salaam was picked at his base price of Rs 20 Lakh by Mumbai Indians. He is only the third cricketer from Kashmir to have been picked by an IPL franchise. "What an exciting moment to go through. I can't control my emotions, a dream  come true," Dar, who hails from restive south Kashmir Kulgam district, said. The right arm quick, who made his List A debut in Vijay Hazare trophy this year, had attended trials at Mumbai Indians in October.    

Jammu and Kashmir Ranji captain Parvez Rasool was the first cricketer from the valley to feature in IPL when he was signed by now-disbanded Pune Warriors franchise. He was later picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad but did not find any takers at the previous auction.     

Manzoor Dar aka Pandav, who has been given the moniker for his monstrous hitting,  became the second Kashmiri cricketer to be picked by an IPL franchise when he was signed by Kings XI Punjab. However,  he did not get any game in the 2018 edition.

(With agency inputs)