Little-known Railways all-rounder Karn Sharma struck gold at the IPL players' auction, becoming the costliest buy among the uncapped players by fetching a Rs 3.75 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Rishi Dhawan also fetched a stunning Rs 3 crore bid from Kings XI Punjab here today.
Kedar Jadhav clinched a two-crore contract with Delhi Daredevils as the uncapped cricketers went under the hammer on the second and final day of the auction.
The 26-year-old Karn Sharma pipped better-known names such as Indian under-19 captain Unmukt Chand (Rs 65 lakh, Rajasthan Royals) to grab the biggest deal of the morning session.
The leg-spinning all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh had turned up for the same franchise last season as well, taking 11 wickets in 13 matches at a decent economy rate of 6.60.
Ranji Trophy's top wicket-taker this season, Dhawan (base price of Rs 20 lakh) was signed for a whopping Rs 3 crore by the Kings XI Punjab via the 'Right to Match' provision after being initially acquired by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
On the other hand, Ranji Trophy's top-scorer this season, Jadhav (base price Rs 30 lakh) went to Delhi Daredevils for Rs two crore after intense bidding. Delhi also used the 'Right to Match' provision after he was initially taken by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Dhawan is primarily a fast-bowling all-rounder who bats in the middle-order. The 23-year-old played for Kings XI Punjab in the 2008 IPL and was signed by the Mumbai Indians last season before being released.
The 26-year-old Jadhav has had a splendid domestic season and has also shown glimpses of his talent in the IPL.
Jadhav was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore development squad to start with before being signed by Delhi Daredevils in 2010.
He made a 29-ball 50 for Delhi against the Royal Challengers in his debut IPL match to win the Man of the match award. The next season, he was signed by the now-discarded Kochi Tuskers Kerala, for whom he turned up in six matches.
The other big winners after the initial bidding were Rajat Bhatia (Rs 1.70 crore, Rajasthan Royals), Manish Pandey (Rs 1.70 crore Kolkata Knight Riders), Aditya Tare (Rs 1.60 crore, Mumbai Indians), K L Rahul (Rs 1 crore, Sunrisers Hyderabad), Ishwar Pandey (Rs 1.50 crore, Chennai Super Kings), Gurkeerat Singh (Rs 1.30 crore, Kings XI Punjab), Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs 1.10 crore, Rajasthan Royals and Parveez Rasool (Rs 95 lakh, Sunrisers Hyderabad).
