Delhi Capitals sign U-19 captain Yash Dhull, PBKS go 10x for Raj Bawa in IPL 2022 Auction

U-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull and promising all-rounders Raj Bawa and Rajvardhan Hangargekar found homes in the IPL 2022 Auction on Sunday.

Yash Dhull, who recently led India to its record fifth U-19 World Cup title, had listed himself for a base price of ₹20 lakhs. He found early bids from his home franchise Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings but the latter pulled out at ₹50 lakhs.

The 19-year-old batter will play under Rishabh Pant in his debut IPL season. In the recently-concluded 2022 U-19 World Cup, the right-hander featured in eight matches, scoring 281 runs at an average of 46.83 including an impressive 110 versus Australia.

While Yash Dhull saw two franchises compete for him, more teams seemed bullish on the all-rounders that made a name for themselves in the U-19 World Cup.

Raj Bawa put in a stellar performance with both bat and ball in the tournament. The Himachal Pradesh-born all-rounder scored 252 runs, averaging 63.00 and striking over 100. He also picked up an all-important fifer in the final against England.

He had also listed himself for ₹20 lakhs. Mumbai Indians, SunRisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings were involved in a three-way bidding war for him. The Mohali-based franchise eventually snapped him for ₹2 crore - 10 times his base price.

Similar interest was shown in hard-hitting all-rounder Hangargekar, who scored 101 runs in the U-19 World Cup at a strike rate of 183.63, while also picking up ten wickets.

He was mighty impressive with the new ball, troubling almost every opposition batter with his pace and bounce.

Three franchises - Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings - helped raise his price five times from ₹30 lakhs to ₹1.5 crores.

The MS Dhoni-led defending champions were the last team standing to confirm his ticket to Chennai.

Yash Dhull-led India's highest wicket-taker goes unsold at IPL 2022 Auction

Meanwhile, in a surprise miss, left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal, who was India's highest wicket-taker in the U-19 World Cup with 12 wickets in six games at an average of 13.33, went unsold in the first round of the IPL 2022 auction.

He had listed himself at a base price of ₹20 lakhs but invited no bidders. Franchises will get another chance to sign him in the accelerated phase.