IPL Auction 2022: Yash Dayal, Prashant Solanki and other relatively unknown players who became crorepatis overnight – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

The player auction for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that took place over the weekend in Bengaluru was one of the biggest in the history of the T20 league, and brought with it its fair share of surprises, and more money was splurged in those 48 hours than ever before.

As many as 204 players were sold, 67 of them overseas, and over 550 crore Indian rupees were shelled out to secure their services. For the first time in the history of the competition, more than 10 players received bids in excess of Rs 10 crore, more than twice the previous biggest number (four players had received such bids in 2018). Ishan Kishan ended up becoming the second most expensive Indian player of all time after Mumbai Indians went all out to get their keeper-batter back, Liam Livingstone became the most expensive overseas buy of all time while Singapore’s Tim David’s Rs 8.25 crore sale to MI became the biggest deal for an Associate player.

There was also a lot of non-cricketing drama at the mega auction over the weekend after veteran auctioneer Hugh Edmeades had suffered a health scare on Day 1 of the two-day event, and had to be replaced in the last minute by commentator and analyst Charu Sharma. Edmeades would make a grand comeback in the final hour of the auction on Sunday, being welcomed back with a standing ovation.

As we recap the highs and lows of this year’s player auction, we take a look at some of the lesser-known names who became crorepatis overnight:

Prashant Solanki (CSK, Rs 1.2 crore)

The Mumbai leg spinner, among the younger players in this list born in 2000, made his domestic debut in the 2020-21 season and ended up bagging a deal worth Rs 1.2 crore, paid by Chennai Super Kings (CSK), despite playing a sum total of just one T20 across his career so far.

While he doesn’t have much to write home about as far his T20 numbers are concerned, Baroda captain Krunal Pandya being his sole wicket in his only appearance in November, he does have a five-for as well as a four-for in nine List A appearances with an average and economy of 23 and 5.96 respectively.

CSK certainly saw some potential in him through those numbers and beyond, and decided to add him to their spin department after a bidding war on Day 2 of the auction.

Yash Dayal (GT, Rs 3.2 crore)

The left-arm seamer from Uttar Pradesh had been in spanking form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier in the winter, collecting a three-for and a five-for in his most recent appearances which might have caught the attention of the IPL scouts that eventually led to a deal worth Rs 3.2 crore from Gujarat Titans after an intense bidding round on the second day of the mega auction.

Prayagraj native Dayal, who made his domestic debut in the 2018-19 season, has taken 83 wickets across formats for UP, including 15 T20 wickets at an average of 22.13, along with an economy of 7.21 and a strike rate of 18.4

R Sai Kishore (GT, Rs 3 crore)

Gujarat Titans were fairly generous in shelling out the greens for the relatively unknown faces in the auction, with Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore being the second uncapped Indian to bag a deal of over 3 crore, with the new franchises staving off rival bids from Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals on Day 1 of the auction.

Left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, who was a net bowler in India’s tour of Sri Lanka last year and had even been added to the main squad after a spate of COVID-19 cases in the visitors’ camp, is one of the many finds of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), in which he has represented multiple sides including three-time champions Chepauk Super Gillies. His consistency in the league led to him getting picked up for Tamil Nadu, whom he has represented 88 times across formats since 2017.

Kishore had earlier been bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 auction, but he never got a game over the next two seasons.

Abhinav Sadarangani (GT, Rs 2.6 crore)

The third Gujarat Titans player in this list, Sadarangani is a relatively new figure in the Indian domestic scene, having only made his debut for powerhouse Karnataka last November.

The right-hand batter, who represented Bijapur Bulls in the Karnataka Premier League, had collected 162 runs in four innings at an average and strike rate of 54 and 150 respectively, and there’s little doubt as to the excitement it might have caused among the IPL scouts who are usually presented in the domestic matches to keep an eye on such lesser-known talents.

Among his standout knocks in the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali was his unbeaten 70 off just 49 balls, against Saurashtra in the preliminary quarter-final, in which he came in at 34/3 after being set 146 to win, and helped the side emerge winners by two wickets with a ball to spare.

N Tilak Varma (MI, Rs 1.7 crore)

The left-handed batter from Hyderabad was picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.7 crore, more than eight times his base price of 20 Lakh, on the second day of the mega-auction, and N Tilak Varma will hope to take his career to a whole new level under the Rohit Sharma’s captaincy this year.

Varma, son of an electrician, had made his First-Class debut for Hyderabad in the 2018-19 season and would start playing the white-ball formats for them soon after. He boasts of a List A average of 52.26, having scored 784 runs including a career-best 156 not out against Tripura last year. Varma, who had represented India at the 2020 U-19 World Cup, also boasts of a T20 strike rate of 143.77, having scored 381 runs in 15 appearances.

Vaibhav Arora (PBKS, Rs 2 crore)

Himachal Pradesh seamer Vaibhav Arora had been picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2021 auction, but did not get a single game throughout the season. The same team decided to enter a bidding war with Punjab Kings over the pacer earlier this weekend, with Punjab clinching the deal at Rs 2 crore — 10 times the amount Kolkata had paid for the seamer last year.

Since making his debut in the 2019-20 season, Arora has represented HP in all three formats in a nascent career so far, including 12 T20 appearances in which he has collected 12 wickets at an average and economy of 25.16 and 6.96 respectively.

Anuj Rawat (RCB, Rs 3.4 crore)

The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter from Uttarakhand went for over Rs 3 crore from a base price of 20 lakh, and will hope to get a more extensive run this year for the Royal Challengers Bangalore than he did with the Rajasthan Royals last year, whom he had represented in just two games across the season. The Royals had paid 80 lakh for his services last year.

He shares a few similarities with Rishabh Pant — an Uttarakhand-born left-handed wicketkeeper-batter who represents Delhi in domestic cricket. He 66 senior domestic appearances to his credit, including 27 T20s in which he has accumulated 501 runs at an average and strike rate of 29.47 and 121.01 respectively.

Click here to read auction analysis for remaining IPL teams

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