Aussie stars go big in IPL auction

Chris Lynn's batting fireworks have earned him a whopping AUD1.86 million after he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in Saturday's Indian Premier League auction.

Lynn was the highest-paid Australian on day one of the player auction, ahead of Mitchell Starc ($1.8 million to KKR), and Glenn Maxwell, who was bought by Ricky Ponting's Delhi Daredevils for $1.75 million.

Hurricanes star D'Arcy Short's Saturday night ended ended on a high note; less than 30 minutes after Hobart advanced to the KFC Big Bash League finals, he went under the hammer and was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for $775,000. He was soon joined by Hurricanes quick Jofra Archer, bought by the Royals for $1.4m.

Aaron Finch was sold to Kings XI Punjab for $1.2 million, Marcus Stoinis was retained by Kings XI for $1.2 million, Pat Cummins went to Mumbai Indians for $1.05 million, while Shane Watson was bought by Chennai Super Kings for $775,000.

A total of 18 players were retained by their franchises before the auction, including superstar Aussie duo Steve Smith and David Warner, who were each bought for A$2.3m by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan respectively. 

England's Ben Stokes was the big winner of the day after he went for $2.4 million to the Royals.

Five Australians went unsold on day one but they could be snapped up when the auction resumes on Sunday.

2018 IPL AUCTION DAY ONE

THE AUSTRALIANS (AUD)
Chris Lynn (Kolkata Knight Riders) - $1.86m
Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders) - $1.8m
Glenn Maxwell (Delhi Daredevils) - $1.75m
Aaron Finch (Kings XI Punjab) - $1.2m
Marcus Stoinis (Kings XI Punjab) - $1.2m
Patrick Cummins (Mumbai Indians) - $1.05m
Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings) - $775,000
D'Arcy Short (Rajasthan Royals) - $775,000
James Faulkner - unsold
Mitchell Johnson - unsold
Josh Hazlewood - unsold
Adam Zampa - unsold
Ben McDermott - unsold

BIGGEST BUYS (AUD)

Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals) - $2.4m
Manish Pandey (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - $2.1m
KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab) - $2.1m
Chris Lynn (Kolkata Knight Riders) - $1.86m
Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders) - $1.8m
Glenn Maxwell (Delhi Daredevils) - $1.75m
Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - $1.7m
Krunal Pandya (Mumbai Indians) - $1.6m

BBL|07 IMPORTS (AUD)

Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - $1.7m
Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals) - $1.4m
Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings) - $1.2m
Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) - $1.05m
Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) - $852,000
Brendon McCullum (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - $698,000
Carlos Brathwaite (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - $388,000
Jason Roy (Delhi Daredevils) - $291,000
Sam Billings - unsold
Mitchell McClenaghan - unsold

Below is how the day panned out 

India opener Shikhar Dhawan was the first player sold at the auction, bought by Kings XI for $1 million, but Sunrisers Hyderabad - as Dhawan's former team - had the right to match Punjab's offer and did so to secure the left-hander. 

Ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was sold for $1.48 million to Kings XI, the franchise that went after West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard before dropping out and the Delhi Daredevils offered $1.05 million. But like Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians used their Right To Match card and snapped up Pollard.

The first surprise of the night belonged to master blaster Chris Gayle, who went unsold. He can be bought later on in the auction.

England allrounder and 2017 IPL Most Valuable Player Stokes attracted the most attention and was sold to Rajasthan Royals for $2.4 million and will play under skipper Steve Smith. 

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis returned to Chennai Super Kings for $310k while Ajinkya Rahane was snapped up by Rajasthan for $775k.

The last marquee player sold in the first round of bidding was Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $1.8 million. 

"Very happy," said KKR assistant coach Simon Katich about securing Starc's services. "He’s one of the premier white-ball bowlers in the world. Left-arm, as well. Obviously, someone who bowls well with the new ball and at the end. Fantastic to get him on board."  

Harbhajan Singh went to CSK for $388k, the same price Sunrisers paid for Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Maxwell was in a tug of war between Delhi and Hyderabad before the Sunrisers dropped out of the bidding. Punjab had the right to match Delhi's bid but declined. 

Delhi then purchased two-time IPL winner Gautam Gambhir for $543k before CSK used their Right To Match card to retain allrounder Dwayne Bravo for $1.2 million. 

Rounding out the final marquee players, Kane Williamson went to Hyderabad for $581k, Joe Root went unsold, and Yuvraj Singh was bought for his base price of $388k by Kings XI. 

After a short break, the auction moved into specialist categories, starting with batsmen. 

Karun Nair went to Kings XI for $1.09 million, as did KL Rahul, who was bought for a whopping $2.1 million. Murali Vijay went unsold. South African David Miller looked like going unsold before he was picked up by Mumbai Indians for $581k. However, Punjab played a Right To Match card and retained Miller. 

Finch had interest from Delhi and Rajasthan but Kings XI were determined to get their man and did so for $1.2 million as their spending spree continued. 

Brisbane Heat captain Brendon McCullum was bought by his BBL coach and Bangalore mentor Daniel Vettori for $698k. England's Jason Roy was sold for $291k to Delhi. 

The bidding war for Lynn was between Delhi, Rajasthan and Kolkata but the Knight Riders held out to get the swashbuckling right-hander. 

Hashim Amla and Martin Guptill went unsold, while Manish Pandey was bought for a staggering $2.1 million by Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

The next set of players to go under the hammer were the allrounders, starting with England's Chris Woakes, who fetched $1.4 million from Bangalore. 

Carlos Brathwaite was sold to Hyderabad for $388k while his former Sydney Thunder teammate Watson was picked up by CSK for $775k. 

India's Kedar Jadhav joined Watson at CSK for $1.5 million, Black Caps allrounder Colin de Grandhomme went to RCB and Yusuf Pathan to the Sunrisers for $368k, the same price his countryman Colin Munro earned from Delhi.

Stuart Binny was picked up for $96k by Rajasthan, Stoinis then became the fifth Australian to pocket more than a million dollars when he was retained by Punjab, as Moeen Ali went to Bangalore for $329k on the stroke of lunch. 

After the break, the wicketkeepers set was up, with Parthiv Patel unsold to start the afternoon. Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was sold to RCB for what could be a steal at $542k, while Wriddhiman Saha was taken by Sunrisers for $969k.

England's Jonny Bairstow and India's Naman Ojha both went unsold, but Dinesh Karthik was picked up for $1.4 million by KKR, the same club who purchased Robin Uthappa for $1.2 million. 

The mega pay days continued when Sanju Samson went to Rajasthan for $1.55 milllion, while CSK paid $426k for Ambati Ryudu. 

England pair Sam Billings (unsold) and Jos Buttler (sold to Rajasthan for $852k) rounded out the wicketkeepers.

Next up was the fast bowlers. Bangladesh star Mustafizur Rahman went to Mumbai first for $426k, before Australia duo Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood went unsold. 

But Cummins broke that pattern when he was secured by Mumbai for $1.05 million before RCB bought India quick Umesh Yadav for $814k.

Kiwis Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan went unsold, as did IPL veteran Ishant Sharma, but Mohammad Shami was retained for $581k by Delhi, whom also retained Proteas pace ace Kagiso Rabada for $814k. 

Sri Lanka legend Sri Lanka Lasith Malinga was the last fast bowler on offer and he went unsold. 

Finally, the spin bowlers were up for sale. Piyush Chawla was bought by CSK for $814k, but KKR had the right to match the offer and did so to secure the tweaker. 

South African Imran Tahir was bought for his base price of $194k by CSK, while Ish Sodhi of New Zealand went unsold. 

Chennai next bought India's Karn Sharma for $969k, before the KFC Big Bash League's leading-wicket taker this season, Rashid Khan, was retained by Hyderabad for $1.7 million.

Ponting's Daredevils then paid $775k for Amit Mishra as West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree went unsold. 

Yuzvendra Chahal was retained by RCB for $1.16 million while Zampa attracted no bidders. 

Kuldeep Yadav was the last spinner up for sale and he was retained by KKR for $1.1 million. 

From there the auctioned turned to uncapped (UC) players (those yet to player international cricket), which can be found below in the team rosters. 

IPL Team rosters (so far)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manan Vohra (UC), Kulwant Khejroliya (UC), Nandeep Saini 

Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill (UC), Ishank Jaggi (UC), Ntish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Aniket Choudhary

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Ryudu, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma,

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rahman, Pat Cummins, Surya Kumar (UC), Ishan Kishan

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shakib Al Hasan, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan

Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammad Shami, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw (UC), Harshal Patel (UC), Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Avesh Khan

Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi (UC), Jofra Archer (UC), D'Arcy Short (UC)

Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, David Miller, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal (UC), Ankit Singh Rajpoot, 

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