IPL Mega Auction 2022: Shahrukh Khan, Avesh Khan, Rahul Tewatia — uncapped Indians become overnight crorepatis on Day 1

Day 1 of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction may have been billed as being all about the marquee players and big names, it ended with some not-so-familiar faces raking in the moolah.

Several uncapped Indian players, who went under the hammer during the latter part of the day, raked in the dough with prices of some of the players going as high as Rs 10 crore. Many of these players had base prices in-and-around the Rs 20-lakh mark, making their final price tags all the more significant.

The Lucknow Super Giants roped in Avesh Khan, who starred for the Delhi Capitals and was the franchise’s leading wicket-taker in 2021, for a cool Rs 10 crore. The pacer finished the 2021 season behind Harshal Patel in the race for the Purple Cap with 24 wickets in 16 matches. Avesh also became the most expensive uncapped pick in IPL history with his fee trumping the previous highest of Rs 9.25 crore that the Chennai Super Kings paid for Krishnappa Gowtham in 2021. Avesh had a base price of 20 lakh.

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All-rounder Shahrukh Khan, meanwhile, went to the Punjab Kings for Rs 9 crore. The Tamil Nadu native was part of the Kings setup last season but was not retained. Bidding for Shahrukh began at Rs 40 lakh but a price war jacked up his eventual fee 22.5 times.

Shahrukh played in 11 matches last season — his only so far — scoring 153 runs.

Another all-rounder who was sold for Rs 9 crore was Rahul Tewatia (base price of Rs 40 lakh). The 28-year-old swapped the Rajasthan Royals for the Gujarat Titans.

Right-handed batter Rahul Tripathi, bidding for whom began at Rs 40 lakh, went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.5 crore. Tripathi has been a consistent player in the IPL, first breaking on to the scene with the Rising Pune SuperGiant before moving to the Rajasthan Royals and then the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Knights as well as the Chennai Super Kings entered into a bidding war for Tripathi before the Sunrisers blew both out of the water. Tripathi was a key player during the Knights’ run to the IPL final in 2021.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned side, however, managed to buy back Shivam Mavi for Rs 7.25 crore. The all-rounder, who had a base price of Rs 40 lakh, has been with the Knights since 2018.

Sunrisers Hyderabad remained the big spenders for uncapped players as they splashed Rs 6.5 crore to bring back all-rounder Abhishek Sharma (base price of Rs 20 lakh). The Orange Army also spent Rs 4 crore on pacer Kartik Tyagi (base price of Rs 20 lakh).

The Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, signed batter Abhinav Sadarangani (base price of Rs 20 lakh) for Rs 2.6 crore. The Titans also bought spinner R Sai Kishore (base price of Rs 20 lakh) for Rs 3 crore.

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All-rounder Riyan Parag (base price of Rs 30 lakh) returned to the Rajasthan Royals, where he played for the past two seasons, for Rs 3.8 crore. The Royals, however, lost wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat (base price of Rs 20 lakh) to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 3.4 crore.

Uncapped all-rounder Harpreet Brar (base price of Rs 20 lakh) was bought back by the Punjab Kings for Rs 3.8 crore.

The big surprise, however, was South African batter Dewald Brevis, who was sold to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 3 crore. The 18-year-old, seen as an AB de Villiers clone, started with a base price of Rs 20 lakh.