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IPL Mega Auction 2024: Did you know there is only one player in IPL history who had all franchises fighting over him? And not just in any auction, this was in the very first IPL players’ auction when the tournament was launched in 2008
The inaugural IPL auction witnessed many interesting bids, marking the beginning of what has become the world’s biggest cricket league.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is, no doubt, a mega sporting spectacle. But equalling enthralling is the auction of players. At the mega auction on Sunday, Rishabh Pant pipped Shreyas Iyer to become the costliest buy in IPL history with a Rs 27 crore winning bid from Lucknow Super Giants.
All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was the subject of an intense bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which ended when KKR paid a whopping Rs 23.75 crore to bring him back via the Right to Match card.
But did you know there is only one player in IPL history who had all franchises fighting over him? And not just in any auction, this was in the very first IPL players’ auction when the tournament was launched in 2008.
The inaugural IPL auction witnessed many interesting bids, marking the beginning of what has become the world’s biggest cricket league.
In a strategic move to foster local engagement during the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, teams were granted a unique concession. To resonate with local fans, each team was permitted to pre-select a key player from their respective region, known as ‘icon player’. However, this privilege came at a cost. Teams were mandated to pay a premium of 15% above the highest bid they would have otherwise offered for that player in the auction.
For example, if Mumbai Indians chose Sachin Tendulkar as their icon player, Mumbai would have to pay 15% more than what they paid for Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya, who fetched the highest bid that year. Jayasuriya was bought by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 8 crore, which means the franchise had to pay Rs 9.2 crore for Tendulkar.
Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab selected Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, respectively, as their icon players and captains.
Initially, Chennai bid for Virender Sehwag, but the Delhi team, eager to secure Sehwag as a key player, intervened successfully.
Icon players selected, up for auction were players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, and Harbhajan Singh.
In the auction, an intense bidding war reportedly broke out for Dhoni. The auctioneer that day was Richard Madley. In a recent statement to CricTracker, he said that as per IPL lore, every franchise bid for Dhoni that day. “I don’t remember that being the case… But of course, there was interest from many franchises,” CricTracker quoted him as saying. He added that CSK determination to get Dhoni was evident from the presence of franchise owner and former cricket administrator N Srinivasan.
When the bidding reached $900,000 (Rs 7 crore), most teams backed out except two — Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
At one point, the two teams settled on $1,500,000 (Rs 12 crore). Following negotiations, the Chennai Super Kings secured Dhoni in the auction.
Chennai Super Kings, under Dhoni’s captaincy since then, reached the playoffs in all but one IPL season (2020) and have won the tournament five times.
