Kings XI Punjab splurged a whopping Rs 8.4 crore for little known mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy who became the joint costliest buy along with Rajasthan Royals' left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction so far.
Chakaravarthy, the Tamil Nadu leg spinner, was bought by the KXIP after an intense bidding war with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Earlier, inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals were engaged in an intense battle with Delhi Capitals and later on with Chennai Super Kings before getting back the services of paceman Unadkat, whom they released for the auction.
Unadkat grabbed eye-balls last season when he became the highest paid Indian after being bought by the same franchise for a whopping Rs 11.5 crore.
Uncapped player Shivam Dube attracted a lot of attention as he was picked for Rs 5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube had on Monday peeled off five sixes in five balls off left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh on the final day of their Ranji Trophy match against Baroda.
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The Rajasthan Royals also bought Varun Aaron for Rs 2.40 crore.
Another discarded India pacer Mohit Sharma went for Rs 5 crore to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) while current pace spearhead Mohammed Shami's services were purchased for Rs 4.80 crore by Kings XI Punjab.
Mumbai Indians bought back Sri Lankan veteran Lasith Malinga for Rs 2 crore while veteran Ishant Sharma was bought for Rs 1.10 crore by Delhi Capitals.
Earlier, Axar Patel was bought for Rs five crore by Delhi while veteran Yuvraj Singh remained unsold from among the first set of players who went under the hammer.
Delhi also bought all-rounder Hanuma Vihari for Rs 2 crore while West Indians Shimron Hetmyer and Nicolas Pooran were bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab, respectively for Rs 4.20 crore. Another Caribbean star Carlos Brathwaite went for Rs 5 crore to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
KXIP also bagged the services of Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques for Rs 1 crore while the Sunrisers Hyderabad spent Rs 2.20 crore for English wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow and Rs 1.20 crore for India's Test stumper Wriddhiman Saha.
Meanwhile, besides Yuvraj, the other stars who went unsold are Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, New Zealanders Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum and Englishmen Chris Woakes, Alex Hales and Chris Jordan.
Aussie stumper Ben McDermott and India's Naman Ojha also failed to find any buyers from among the eight IPL franchises.
--IANS
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