Indian cricketer, 13, youngest to be sold in IPL history / Photo: © AFP
Indian cricketer, 13, youngest to be sold in IPL history
Thirteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest ever cricketer to be sold in an IPL auction on Monday, stealing the limelight from veteran fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar.
Suryavanshi, a left-handed batter and spinner from the eastern Indian state of Bihar, was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for $130,500 on the second and final day of a record-breaking auction in Jeddah.
Suryavanshi came in at a base price of $35,591 among many world-class cricketers going under the hammer ahead of the 18th edition of the T20 tournament.
Seam bowlers Kumar and Chahar attracted top prices on day two, but Suryavanshi's winning bid by Rajasthan stood out.
He made his domestic Ranji debut aged 12 in January and was more recently selected in the India Under-19 squad that played four-day matches against a touring Australian team in Chennai.
He scored a triple century in an under-19 ODI tournament in Bihar.
Earlier in the day, experienced fast bowler Kumar went to Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $1.27 million, while Mumbai Indians picked up Chahar for $1.09 million.
Rishabh Pant broke the auction record on day one when Lucknow Super Giants got the star wicketkeeper for a whopping $3.2 million, while Punjab Kings snapped up Shreyas Iyer for $3.17 million also on Sunday.
"For us to get Rishabh was a huge pickup," Lucknow coach Justin Langer said on the sidelines of the auction.
"Overall we have had a really good auction. It's the best domestic competition in the world and it will be really competitive when it gets started next March."
Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, on the first day, became the third-highest buy when he went to Kolkata for $2.81 million after a fierce bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
- Indian quicks cash in -
The final day began with a string of unsold players and some frugal buys, before South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen went to Punjab for $830,000.
The focus then turned to Indian quicks.
Mukesh Kumar went to Delhi Capitals for $942,000, with pace bowler Akash Deep going to Lucknow for the same price.
Five-time champions Mumbai went big for Chahar, before securing 18-year-old Afghan spinner Allah Ghazanfar for $569,000.
"Very happy at this position because we have got our playing XII. It's locked in now," Mumbai owner Akash Ambani said.
"The last three years we have really thought about that, what's the balance that we truly need to get back to winning ways."
Mumbai, who last won an IPL title in 2020, later made a winning bid for England all-rounder Will Jacks for $622,849.
New Zealand's veteran Kane Williamson and all-rounder Glenn Phillips both went unsold. Australians Steve Smith and David Warner also did not have any takers.
Phillips and Warner could come up again later in the auction.
Uncapped Indian batsman Priyansh Arya, who hit six sixes in an over in the Delhi Premier League T20 tournament, entered the auction on $35,591 and got $450,824 from Punjab.
The IPL is a huge earner for Indian cricket and the tournament makes more than $11 billion for the economy each year.
The pioneering IPL helped make T20 cricket hugely popular, spawning copycat events worldwide.
Dates for next year's IPL have not been released but seasons usually run from March to May.
V.Bennett--TNT
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