Indian Premier League (IPL T20) is a city-based franchise cricket league played in India. IPL was introduced back in 2007 by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) to provide a platform for all youngsters to show their talent. IPL helps Indian cricket to find brilliant cricketers. Eight city-based franchises took part in the league and a mini-auction took place before the beginning of season 2021, where franchises have shown interest in buying their favourite cricketers in the auction. The players got sold to franchises on a good amount and the franchises bid for their desired players with open heart and purse.
Rishabh Pant is now Most expensive player of IPL Tournament till date.
Yuvraj Singh and Ben Stokes, both players have been most expensive player twice in the IPL Tournament so far.
Most Expensive Player in IPL T20 History
Here is the list of the most expensive player in each auction of IPL:
- IPL 2008: MS Dhoni was the most expensive cricketer in the auction in the inaugural season of IPL. He was the captain of the Indian T20I team who won the ICC 2007 T20 World Cup. MS Dhoni was the best finisher of the game at that time and we all are familiar with his captaincy mind so every team wanted a player like him on their side. Chennai Super Kings had bought MS Dhoni for 9.5 crore INR. He proved his worth and made 414 runs in 16 matches with a healthy strike rate of 133.54 and with an average of 41.40. He was the captain of the CSK team and he guided the team to the Final of IPL 2008.
- IPL 2009: Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson were the most expensive players in IPL 2009 auction. The English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was bought by Chennai Super Kings for 9.8 crore INR. He had failed to prove his worth to the team and ruled out of 2009 IPL after playing only 3 matches. He had made only 62 runs and took 2 wickets in 3 matches he played for CSK. Kevin Pieterson, an English top-order batsman was also the most expensive buy of IPL 2009. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the same amount of 9.8 crore INR. He had played only 6 matches in IPL 2009 season and made only 93 runs.
- IPL 2010: Shane Bond and Kieron Pollard shared the tag of most expensive cricketers in the IPL 2010 auction. Shane Bond was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders and Kieron Pollard was bought by Mumbai Indians for 4.8 crore INR. Shane Bond played 8 matches for KKR and had taken 9 wickets with a decent economy rate of 7.22. He was outstanding throughout the season for KKR. Kieron Pollard had also impressed Mumbai Indians and made 273 runs with an explosive strike rate of 185.71. He had handled the finisher role in the MI team.
- IPL 2011: Gautam Gambhir was the most expensive player of the IPL 2011 auction. He was bought by KKR for 14.9 crore INR. Gautam Gambhir had impressed KKR fans with his performance and made 378 runs in 15 matches with an average of 34.36. Gautam Gambhir had also handled the captaincy of KKR and led the team to the knockout stage of the tournament.
- IPL 2012: Ravindra Jadeja was the most expensive player of IPL 2012. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings for 12.8 crore INR. The Indian all-rounder had failed to impress the franchise and made only 191 runs with the bat and took 12 wickets with the ball. Although he was retained by CSK management for next season, his price was reduced to 7 crores by the franchise.
- IPL 2013: Glenn Maxwell had won the tag of the most expensive player in the IPL 2013 auction. The Australian all-rounder was bought by the Mumbai team for 6.3 crore INR. He had played only 3 matches for the Mumbai team and showed his hard-hitting ability to other franchises.
- IPL 2014: Yuvraj Singh was the most expensive player in the IPL 2014 auction. The left-handed middle-order Indian batsman was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 14 crore INR. He had a fantastic season for RCB. He had made 376 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 135.25.
- IPL 2015: Once again Yuvraj Singh was named as the most expensive player of the IPL 2015 auction. He was bought by the Delhi Capitals team for 16 crore INR. He had an amazing 2014 IPL season but had failed to perform for the Delhi franchise. He made only 248 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of just 118.09.
- IPL 2016: Shane Watson was the most expensive player of IPL 2016. The Australian all-rounder was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for 9.5 crore INR. Shane Watson also had failed to prove with bat and made only 179 runs in 16 matches but he was outstanding with the ball. He had taken 20 wickets and finished the season as the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament.
- IPL 2017: Ben Stokes, the English all-rounder was the most expensive player of IPL 2017. He was sold to Rising Pune Supergiant for 14.5 crore INR. Ben Stokes had a phenomenal season and he had made 316 runs in just 12 matches with a strike rate of 142.98. He had also made a match-winning ton for the team. He had taken 12 wickets with the ball with an economy rate of 7.18. He was proved to be a smart buy by Rising Pune Supergiant.
- IPL 2018: Ben Stokes had again won the tag of the most expensive player in the IPL 2018 auction. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 12.5 crore INR. He had failed to perform under the new franchise and made only 196 runs in 13 matches with a strike rate of around 120.
- IPL 2019: Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy had shared the tag of the most expensive player in the IPL 2019 auction. Jaydev Unadkat was sold to Rajasthan Royals and Varun Chakravarthy to Punjab Kings for 8.4 crore each INR. Both players had failed to impress their franchises with their performance.
- IPL 2020: Pat Cummins, the Aussie fast bowler was the most expensive player of the IPL 2020 auction. He was sold to KKR for 15.5 crore INR. He had taken 12 wickets in 14 matches for KKR and made 146 runs with the bat. He had played some important cameos for the team but failed to impress with his bowling.
- IPL 2021: Chris Morris is the most expensive player of the IPL 2021 auction. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 16.25 crore INR. He is an all-rounder from South Africa. He had played IPL 2020 with the RCB team.