5 cheap buys who became hits in the IPL 2016

In the IPL auctions, some players earn huge bucks, some don’t. Players who earn the most lucrative contracts are expected to perform well because of the money that gets involved. Sometimes those players fail to live up to the expectations.

Whereas, on the other hand, players who get sold at a very minimal amount don’t have to cope with the pressure of the money and they tend to perform well. They exceed the expectations and become great value for money buys with their decent performances.

In the IPL 2016, we have tried to find out 5 such players who didn’t get big bucks compared to others but performed exceedingly well.

Here are the Top 5 cheap buys who performed exceptionally well for their respective franchise. We are following a descending order in terms of the money these players received.

5. Marcus Stoinis- INR 55 lakh

The young Australian all-rounder impressed everyone with his all-rounds skills in the IPL 2016 before opting out of the tournament citing ‘personal unavoidable circumstances’.

Stoinis, who was picked by Kings XI Punjab in this year’s auction for a mere INR 55 lakh, played 7 matches for the franchise and scalped 8 wickets and amassed 146 runs. He was one of the better performers for the beleaguered Punjab side in the 9th edition of the cash-rich league.

The 26-year-old delivered a match-winning performance against Delhi Daredevils as he scored a 50 and took 3 crucial wickets. He bowled brilliantly against Mumbai Indians as he ran through the Mumbai middle-order to trigger a collapse. Mumbai managed to score only 124 and they lost that game to Punjab by 7 wickets.

Surely his returns were quite good!

4. Ben Cutting-INR 50 lakh

The man of the match of the IPL final, Ben Cutting was sold for only INR 50 lakh to Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Australian all-rounder delivered when it mattered the most.

He played 5 games and took 6 wickets at a decent economy of 7.31 and his average of 18.50 was also quite impressive. With the bat, he scored 73 runs coming down the order in 5 games with a stupendous strike rate of 182.50

However, he will always be remembered for his all-round exploits in the big final where with the bat Cutting cut loose in the last few overs to take his team’s total past 200 which proved to be decisive. Cutting with a thunderous strike rate of 260 remained unbeaten on 39 and with the ball he picked up 2 key wickets including the one of Chris Gayle and conceded 35 runs.

Cutting surely made his money worth as he helped his team lift the coveted trophy!

3. Ashok Dinda- INR 50 lakh

The Bengal pacer was a bright spark for the beleaguered Rising Pune Supergiants bowling line-up and he justified his position with some decent performances.

Dinda played 9 games and picked up 11 wickets at a decent economy of 7.57. The pacer also won two Man of the Match awards and amidst an abysmal campaign for his franchise, it was Dinda who provided some respite with his restrained bowling. In his first game for the franchise, Dinda broke through the Sunrisers batting line-up and even accounted for the prize scalp of David Warner.

With the kind of returns Dinda has given, one can surely say he was truly a ‘value-for-money’ buy.

2. Adam Zampa-30 lakh

The 24-year-old Australian leg-spinner, who was sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for only INR 30 lakh, took the IPL 2016 by storm when he recorded the second best figures in the history of IPL. Zampa took 6 wickets for 19 runs as he completely ran through the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting line-up with his guile and loop.

However, his heroics went in vain and his side lost that game. But the young leggie looked truly impressive and he has all the requisites to become a potential match-winner for whichever side he plays. Zampa picked up 12 wickets in just 5 games at an impressive economy of 6.76. and it surely goes to show the fact his returns simply exceeded his price tag.

Next season, Zampa might just be the trump-card for the Pune franchise.

1. Shivil Kaushik-INR 10 lakh

The ‘Indian Paul Adams’ was an unknown proposition before the world took notice of him when he played his first game in the cash-rich league against Rising Pune Supergiants. The young Chinaman bowler, who was picked up Gujarat Lions for INR 10 lakh(his base price), could also have got rid of the Australian skipper Steve Smith in his first match had he not overstepped.

However, he came back strongly in the next game and picked up a 3-for against Kings XI Punjab and the KXIP batsmen conceded the fact that it was difficult to pick the left-arm leggie.

Shivil took 6 wickets in 7 games and bowled a wonderful spell in the second qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad to tilt the game in Gujarat’s favour. However, SRH skipper Warner played a stupendous knock to nullify Shivil’s impressive figures of 2 for 22 in 4 overs.

He surely was an investor’s delight!