IPL 2018 Auction: 5 highest paid uncapped players

The Indian Premier League today is the most watched and the most attended cricketing league in the world. Just like the Kerry Packer World Series in the 1970s, the IPL has brought about a new revolution in the world of cricket. It is a melting pot of different cultures and different identities as players from all over the world take part in this two month extravaganza keeping aside all their national rivalries.

Along with the superstars the IPL is also a wonderful platform for relatively unknown uncapped players to showcase their talent to the world. Starting from Shaun Marsh in the first edition to Basil Thampi and Krunal Pandya in 2017, many players have forced their way into national reckoning with good performances in the IPL.

The uncapped players are thus in very high demand in every IPL auction. So exactly who were the costliest uncapped players in the 2018 edition of the IPL?

Let us have a look:

#5 D'Arcy Short (Rajasthan Royals) - 4 crore

Currently the highest run getter in this year's Big Bash, Short has almost single-handedly carried the Hobart Hurricanes into the knockout stages of the tournament. The 27-year-old also recently smashed the record of scoring the highest number of runs in one edition of the Big Bash as he racked up 504 runs in just 10 matches at an average of 56 and a stunning strike rate of 148 with three 50s and a hundred. He is also quite useful with his chinamans.

Although his base price was only Rs. 0 lakh, bids quickly started pouring in as Delhi and Rajasthan went head to head to secure his services. Finally, it was the big spending Rajasthan Royals who picked up him up for 4 crore - at 20 times his bases price.

#4 Krishnappa Gowtham (Rajasthan Royals) - 6.2 crore

Krishnappa Gowtham was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals.

Krishnappa Gowtham is an off-spinning all rounder who plays for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. Although mostly regarded as a T20 specialist, he is today an integral part of his team's Ranji Trophy line up.

He went for big bucks in the 2017 IPL auction as well, when he was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for 2 crore but failed to get a game. In his short T20 career so far he has picked up 20 wickets in 27 matches and also scored 310 runs at a strike rate of 160.

With big hitting Indian all rounders going for massive prices, K Gowtham was expected to attract big bids from all the franchises. He was finally snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping 6.2 crore.

#3 Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) - 6.2 crore

Ishan Kishan is trying to follow the footsteps of his idol MS Dhoni.

Ishan Kishan hails from the land of MS Dhoni and this left handed wicket keeper batsman came into the limelight after he lead India led India at the Under-19 World Cup in 2016 in Bangladesh, where his team finished runners-up to West Indies. He then cemented his place in the 2016-17 season for his state Jharkhand, after scoring close to 800 runs including a career best 273 against Delhi. He was picked up by the Gujarat Lions in the 2017 edition of the IPL and scored 277 runs in 10 innings. For a 17-year-old facing some of the biggest names in world cricket, this was a creditable performance.

Come the 2018 auction, he generated great interest in the auction. Mumbai Indians were bereft of keepers till then and they went all out to sign him. He was finally bought for 6.2 crore - 15 times more than his base price of 40 lakh.

#2 Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals) - 7.2 crore

Jofra Archer has been in phenomenal form in the BBL.

Little-known before this, Jofra Archer has grown in prominence in the Big Bash this year. With his searing yorkers and bouncers with speeds up to 95 mph he has the capacity to castle the best batsmen in the business. He joined the Hobart Hurricanes as a late replacement for Tom Curran, and has taken the league by storm picking up 15 wickets in just 10 matches. He has also excelled in the field taking one handed sensational catches and effecting run outs from the boundary with direct hits.

With his stupendous form he was always going to be a sought after player in the IPL auctions. His winning bid was a massive 7.2 crore, and he will play for the Rajasthan Royals for the next three years in the IPL.

#1 Krunal Pandya (Mumbai Indians) - 8.8 crore

The older Pandya was Mumbai's find of IPL 2017.

A canny left arm spinner and a powerful hitter down the order Krunal Pandya proved to be a revelation for the Mumbai Indians in the 2017 edition of the IPL as he played a very important role in Mumbai's title winning run.

He ended IPL 2017 with 10 wickets from 13 matches and also scored 243 runs at a strike-rate of 136.

Coming into the auction it was always clear that Mumbai Indians would retain him as they had kept their last Right To Match card (RTM) unused till his name came out. At the end of the bidding war between Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians retained him for a whopping 8.8 crore - making him the highest paid uncapped player in the history of the IPL.