Over the last decade, the auction of the Indian Premier League has seen the unrestricted flow of money being spent by the team owners to acquire the services of their most-preferred players. Since the inception of the IPL, team owners have never hesitated in spending big bucks on players.
Having said that, not all opulent deals have turned out to be successful for the team owners. There have times when cash-rich bids have failed to produce the desired results, but it is a part and parcel of the business world, isn’t it?
Below is the list of five players who stood tall on the pay cheque given to them by performing at their utmost best on the ground:
5. Rashid Khan (SunRisers Hyderabad) – When SunRisers Hyderabad chose to pick an 18-year leg-spinner from Afghanistan for INR 4 crore during the auction in 2016, many heads were left amused for they hadn’t realized the value of this genius leg-spinner until he landed up in India last year. To the likes of the team management and captain David Warner, Rashid Khan deceived batsmen at will in the last season of the IPL and restricted the run-flow as well. In the 14 IPL matches last year, he picked up 17 wickets at an average of 21.05, an economy rate of 6.62 and a strike rate of 19.05.
4. Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Yusuf Pathan entered the cricketing world with the reputation of being a dasher. Right from the days when he made his T20I debut during the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, Pathan was known for his heroics with the bat. Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for a whopping INR 9 crore during the auction in 2012. Pathan stood up tall whenever his team required him the most. Via his finishing touches, he played an instrumental role in KKR winning the titles in 2012 and 2014.
3. Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) – In which will, perhaps, go down as the best buys of the Indian Premier League ever, Gautam Gambhir turned out to be a revelation for the Knight Riders post they acquired his services in 2011. Gambhir led KKR to their maiden IPL title in 2012 and repeated the feat in 2014. Both the runs coming out from his bat and the tactical decisions coming out from his brain did wonder for the franchise. The INR 10.8 crore, which KKR spent on him, was worth every penny.
2. Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiants) – The costliest buy of IPL 2017, Ben Stokes was bought for INR 14.5 crore by Rising Pune Supergiants. Declared ‘Man of the Match’ thrice in the last season of the IPL, Stokes proved as to why he was the most sought-after players during the auction. Apart from these three matches, there were other occasions as well when Stokes contributed with both the bat and the ball. He ended up being the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the season as he scored 316 runs and picked up 12 wickets in his maiden IPL season.
1. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) – Rohit Sharma was bought for INR 9.2 crore by the Mumbai Indians in 2011. Since then, he has turned out to be the most successful captain in the IPL, winning titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Rohit turned the fortunes of the franchise on his own. Before being handed the reigns of the franchise, Rohit did not have much of a leadership experience at such a level. However, with the way he has led them over the years is awe-inspiring.
