Most expensive players of IPL from 2008 to 2019
Indian Premier League (IPL) – considered as the most colorful domestic event in the World of Cricket. This tournament is full of glamour, money, and glitz. If we think about the IPL, two things usually come in our mind – one is it’s super entertainment and another is the amount of money each team spends to hire players. Every year IPL franchises spend huge sums of money to buy their choice able players. Sometimes, their expensive players perform at the highest level and sometimes they fail to live up to the height of expectations. In this article, we are going to take a look at the most expensive players of IPL from 2008 to 2019.
Most expensive players of IPL from 2008 to 2019
Since the start of the IPL in 2008, the auctions of this tournament already been seen huge expensive purchasing of domestic and overseas players. Franchises always try their best to get their preferable players with the highest bid of money. Players earn a handsome amount of payments in just six weeks in this tournament. We have listed down the most expensive players of IPL since 2008 and their overall performances in this article.
The expensive player list according to the year –
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2008)
- Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen (2009)
- Shane Bond, Kieron Pollard (2010)
- Gautam Gambhir (2011)
- Ravindra Jadeja (2012)
- Glenn Maxwell (2013)
- Yuvraj Singh (2014)
- Yuvraj Singh (2015)
- Shane Watson (2016)
- Ben Stokes (2017)
- Ben Stokes (2018)
- Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy (2019)
Now, let’s jump to the details.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2008):
Former Indian National Team skipper MS Dhoni was the most expensive player in the opening season of IPL. MS Dhoni earned RS 9.5 Cr in that commencing season. He was the most desirable player on that moment as he led his national team to victory in 2007’s T20 World Cup. Fortunately, he lives up to the expectation and absolutely justified this ‘’ most expensive’’ tag with superb performances in the whole tournament by leading his team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to final. Under his leadership, Chennai becomes three times champion and six times runner up in IPL. He is considered as one of the most successful captains of IPL history.
Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen (2009):
After an excellent opening of the first season, season 2 started with much hype and IPL fans were very excited to see which players their favorite teams are purchasing. No English players played in the first season so there was a hype surrounding English players. Two Englishmen Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were the most expensive players of 2009 as they both were paid whopping RS 9.8 Cr by Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Sadly, both players bottled up their season by injury and disappointing performances. Flintoff ended his IPL journey with a knee injury after a few bad performances while Pietersen played only six matches and scored only 93 runs.
Shane Bond, Kieron Pollard (2010):
In season 3, New Zealand shimmer Shane Bond and West Indian pacer Kieron Pollard were the most expensive players as they both gained RS 3.8 Cr by Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians respectively. Shane Bond just played one season for Kolkata and delivered a dynamic performance as he picked up 8 wickets in nine matches. On the other hand, after remained unsold in the previous auction, Kieron Pollard became an integral part of Mumbai Indians since 2010. He is still playing for them while Shane Bond is now the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians.
Gautam Gambhir (2011):
After swallowing three dismal seasons, Kolkata brought Gautam Gambhir for record RS 11.04 Cr from Delhi Daredevils(Delhi Capitals). This is the first ever sum in IPL that crossed single digit to double-digit. Gautam Gambhir repaid the faith with his wonderful performances and won the heart of KKR fans. Under his captaincy, Kolkata – the city of joy, landed two IPL trophies in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Ravindra Jadeja (2012):
India’s popular all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was brought by Chennai Super Kings for walloping RS 9.72 Cr back in 2012. The talented all-rounder proved himself as a perfect player for each penny. He became an indispensable part of MS Dhoni’s team until the team dissolved after 2015. He returned to the team again in 2018 after CSK got the green light from the Indian Cricket Board. He’s one of the most consistent performers and important man for CSK’s compatible success.
Glenn Maxwell (2013):
The sixth chaffer of IPL saw Australian competent all-rounder Glenn Maxwell gained the prestige of the most expensive player. The hard-hitting all-rounder purchased by Mumbai Indians for RS 5.3 Cr after Mumbai Indians had to battle out with Sunrisers Hyderabad. But, he failed to bring a smile on the face of Mumbai Indians fans as he really failed and scored only 36 runs on 3 matches.
Yuvraj Singh (2014):
The flamboyant cricketer of India. He was one of the most lovable faces back then. Royal Challengers Bangalore brought him for the record of RS 14 Cr for his service. He didn’t disappoint at all. After quite a fine shows, he eventually sold in 2015.
Yuvraj Singh (2015):
The dream run of Indian golden boy continued. Delhi Daredevils broke the bank for him and paid RS 16 cr for his service. It’s not a surprise that the highest paid generally brings much more responsibilities. Sadly, Yuvraj Singh failed to live up the huge responsibility and it seemed a huge burden for him to bear. His performances were so miserable which forced Delhi to release him in next season.
Shane Watson (2016):
The poster boy of Australian cricket. One of the most successful all-rounders of modern times was the second Australian cricketer after Glenn Maxwell to achieve the ‘’ most expensive’’ tag in IPL. After strings of fine performances in Rajasthan Royals, RCB paid RS 9.81 Cr for his service. He did well in his first season at Royal Challengers Bangalore but failed to make a similar impact in 2017.
Ben Stokes (2017):
One of the brightest talents of this generation, Ben Stokes made a banging entry in IPL and registered great performances in the match to match basis. Due to his game-changing ability and high strokes, Rising Pune Supergiants didn’t hesitate to pay him Rs 14.5 Cr.
Ben Stroke (2018):
IPL 2018 auction also was a repeat of the previous year as Ben Stokes comes out as the most valuable player again. This time Rajasthan Royals instead of Pune. Rajasthan Royals came back in IPL after 2 years of suspension and shelled out huge sums of money for Ben Stroke.
Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy (2019):
IPL 2019 chaffer have seen some unexpected matters. Many standout international performers remain unsold but surprisingly two of Indian bowlers sold out for a hefty amount of money. While Kings XI Punjab paid Varun a whopping 8.4 cr and RR paid Jaydev the same amount of money. The sums were eye-raising as people doubts their capability to justify the price tags. Both of the players fail miserably so far as both of their teams are almost out of the tournament.
Sometimes highest bid repaid and sometimes it turns out to be a disaster. Many players shine and many players failed to take the burdens of responsibilities. IPL is not only a glamorous show but a show of ups and downs of players and franchises.